Microsoft will give 200.000$ for the best idea about how to combat internet hackers. If you have an idea, send it to them. You can win and we all can enjoy a hackerless Internet.

http://www.microsoft.com/security/bluehatprize/

LOL 200.000$.
you could sell SUCH a solution for FAR more money and EVERY company would buy it! fu**ing microsoft just wants to get away CHEAP -.- !

/edit: you could even get a novel prize for it...

$200000 is a lot. Holy ****.

Cool. The benefit for Microsoft is in the sum of the entries. $200,000 is a more than fair price for an great undeveloped idea, but is very cheap for the thousands of great ideas that Microsoft will get as a result of the contest. They get full non-exclusive perpetutal rights to every one of them.

Very interesting! $200.000 sure is a lot of money and even the second and third prizes are a lot!

I find it quite amusing that you can enter if you're 14 or older. Which 14 year old kid is capable of developing something like this? I want to see that kid, seriously!

But still, I'm always working on some security solutions, so maybe I come up with something worth submitting. Who knows...

Regards
BlackMark

Its probably because the group that hacked a few major companies was full of 14 year old XD

I think its a way to bring out hackers themselves to propose ideas and give Microsoft insight into how hacking organizations tick.

@BusinessEvolution: That was not hacking! They just used DDoS attacks to take down the servers. This doesn't require skill nor knowledge. All you need is a bunch of people with internet access and the right tool!

@coolguycooldude: You are right that most of the people who will submit ideas are probably hackers or are familiar with hacking. BUT, why would any hacker tell Microsoft how their organizations work? That's not part of the contest and someone who's that stupid shouldn't be part of a hacker group in the first place.

Regards
BlackMark

Good luck, BlackMark. I liked your free Logitech LCD app. Maybe you will win some money, too. I am not a programmer. I don't have the time.
About the hacker's age: there are a lot of young computer geniuses; don't underestimate them.

@liviuando: Thanks, I will try to come up with something worth submitting, even if I don't win, I'll still have fun and a nice challange

About the hackers: I know that there are a lot of young computer geniuses, I was (am) one of them. But still, this is too much for a 14 year old. They don't have enough experience with hacking and cracking to develop a revolutionary security solution! But I'm still hoping to be proven wrong!

Regards
BlackMark

good luck mate

Thanks, I'll probably need it if I want to win something...

Regards
BlackMark

In the real world, if anyone's gonna win the prize it's gonna be a friend of Microsoft or a Mason, that's how the world works, it's all a scam, the game's rigged, the fix is in, unfortunately.

Normally I'd say you're right, but this time you're wrong! I read the requirements for the contest and it says that you are not allowed to enter if you have any connection to Microsoft. For example, you can't enter if someone in your family works for Microsoft.

The game's rigged, yes probably. Microsoft is buying ideas worth millions maybe even billions of dollars for only $200.000. That's a pretty good deal. But there are a lot of intelligent people out there who would develop something like this for free, so from their point of view it's also a pretty good deal and that's why this whole thing works.

It's also a good thing to write in your resume: You developed a security solution for a contest held by Microsoft surely sounds impressive, even if you didn't win.

Regards
BlackMark

bump...