Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is awarding one hacking expert $100,000 for discovering security holes in the software. This is one of the largest bounties ever awarded by a tech company. Microsoft also released an update for their browser Internet Explorer, which is said to fix a bug that could leave the browser vulnerable to a remote attack.
Microsoft awards James Forshaw
The awarded hacker was James Forshaw. He leads a research team at Context Information Security—a security consulting firm in London. He was additionally rewarded $9,400 for finding security bugs in a preview release of Internet Explorer 11. Forshaw was credited for uncovering several dozens of bugs. Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) also gave him a large bounty award to find a way to own or “pwn”.
Four months ago, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shared their reward programs in hopes to improve their operating system and protect it from hackers. Microsoft is still the leading OS for most personal computers.
On Tuesday, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) also released an automatic update that will fix the security bug the company talked about in September. Marc Maiffret (Beyond Trust’s chief technology officer) explained that the vulnerability was used more after the disclosure of the issue captured the attention of cyber criminals. He also recommends that PC users install the update on their computer right away, if it hasn’t already been downloaded via automatic download updates.
Maiffret added, “Any time they patch something that has already been used (to launch attacks) in the wild, then it is critical to apply the patch.”
Adobe rolling out security updates
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) isn’t the only company to release security updates today. Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) has also rolled out updates for Windows-based versions of Adobe Acrobat XI and Adobe Reader XI. Krebson Security explained, “The updates fix a single vulnerability and bring these products to version 11.0.05. Links to the updates and more information about the flaw is available in Adobe’s advisory. The company said that Adobe Reader and Acrobat X (10.1.8) and earlier versions for Windows are not affected, and all versions of Adobe Reader and Acrobat for Macintosh are also not affected by this vulnerability.”
Internet security is a big issue for most Windows users. This is why it’s so important for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to stay on top of all security matters.
