Microsoft Boosts Zero Day Quest Reward to $5 Million
▼ Summary
– Microsoft is offering up to $5 million in rewards at its 2025 Zero Day Quest hacking contest, focusing on cloud and AI security vulnerabilities.
– Last year’s event awarded $1.6 million for over 600 submissions, with this year’s prize pool increased to $5 million.
– The 2025 contest runs from August 4 to October 4, featuring a +50% bounty multiplier for critical vulnerabilities in Microsoft products like Azure and Copilot.
– Top researchers will be invited to a live hacking event in Spring 2026, with training provided by Microsoft’s AI Red Team and security experts.
– The contest is part of Microsoft’s Secure Future Initiative, aimed at improving security culture and sharing findings to enhance cloud and AI protections.
Microsoft has dramatically increased its bug bounty rewards, offering up to $5 million for its annual Zero Day Quest hacking competition, the largest prize pool in the event’s history. This year’s challenge focuses squarely on uncovering vulnerabilities in cloud computing and AI systems, reflecting the growing importance of these technologies in enterprise security.
The tech giant previously awarded $1.6 million in 2024 after receiving over 600 submissions, demonstrating strong engagement from the global security research community. Now, with an expanded $5 million prize pool, Microsoft aims to attract even more experts to help harden its platforms. The competition runs from August 4 to October 4, 2025, with bonuses available for critical-severity findings in Microsoft Azure, Copilot, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, Identity, and M365.
High-impact vulnerabilities will qualify for a 50% bounty multiplier, and top researchers may be invited to an exclusive live hacking event at Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters in Spring 2026. The company is also offering specialized training from its AI Red Team and MSRC experts, covering AI security testing and advanced research techniques.
This initiative aligns with Microsoft’s Secure Future Initiative (SFI), launched in late 2023 to overhaul cybersecurity practices following criticism from U.S. regulators. The program emphasizes secure-by-default design principles, with findings from Zero Day Quest directly influencing product improvements.
In a related move, Microsoft recently raised payouts for .NET and ASP.NET Core vulnerabilities to $40,000, while Copilot AI bug bounties now include a 100% multiplier to encourage deeper scrutiny of generative AI risks. These changes highlight the company’s aggressive push to identify and mitigate emerging threats before they impact customers.
By incentivizing ethical hackers with unprecedented rewards, Microsoft hopes to stay ahead of adversaries while reinforcing trust in its cloud and AI ecosystems. The competition’s results will be shared publicly through the CVE program, ensuring transparency and collective learning across the cybersecurity community.
(Source: Bleeping Computer)
