Xbox Live usually works pretty well, but at times, it can be a buggy service. Do you feel like you are always running into bugs? Well, maybe that makes you lucky, not unlucky. If you report Xbox Live bugs through the new Xbox Bounty Program, you could end up making as much as $20,000.
Some Gamers Could Receive Up to $20,000 for Bug Reports Through Xbox Bounty Program
Microsoft is serious about getting rid of bugs on Xbox Live. On Thursday, the Microsoft Security Response Center announced the creation of the Xbox Bounty program.
The post explains, “The Xbox bounty program invites gamers, security researchers, and technologists around the world to help identify security vulnerabilities in the Xbox network and services, and share them with the Microsoft Xbox team through Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure (CVD). Eligible submissions with a clear and concise proof of concept (POC) are eligible for awards up to US$20,000.”
Of course, the majority of bugs won’t be worth $20,000. At the lower end though, you could get paid around $500 for spotting a relevant bug, which is still pretty awesome.
If you want to find out more about what you should be on the lookout for, take a look at this page. There, you’ll find a list of issues which are of interest to the company along with their security impact and how much they are worth (also based on the quality of the report).
So, for instance, say you find a bug which would create a vulnerability in the area of Remote Code Execution. A low-quality report would earn you $10,000, but a high-quality report could earn you $20,000.
Keep in mind that you cannot do just anything you like to try and find a bug. For example, you are not allowed to perform Denial of Service testing, nor can you phish anyone. So, be sure and read the rules in detail (which also are found on the page which is linked above) before you start trying to identify weaknesses in Xbox Live. Good luck!