Redazione RHC : 6 August 2025 14:38
The global cybersecurity industry is gearing up for a new challenge: Microsoft is launching an updated Zero Day Quest initiative, promising previously fantastic rewards: the total prize pool has reached $5 million. This move not only encourages top specialists to research vulnerabilities, but also sets new protection standards for cloud services and artificial intelligence
Last year, the program’s initial launch had already attracted the attention of the entire professional community: the prize pool was then $4 million, and the format itself had aroused unprecedented interest. This time, Microsoft is raising the stakes and focusing on the most dangerous threats associated with cloud platforms and artificial intelligence.
The organizers emphasize that this is the largest public vulnerability research competition in history, in which the efforts of the company’s leading specialists and engineers will be combined to proactively protect against growing threats. This approach reflects Microsoft’s new strategy: the emphasis is on open cooperation and the pursuit of innovation in an ever-evolving attack landscape.
Zero Day Quest is based on the idea of incentivizing ethical hacking, that is, the discovery of so-called “zero days,” previously unknown vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers to compromise data or destroy infrastructure. Last year, the company invested $1.6 million in Copilot AI and cloud services alone, which proved to be a significant incentive for bolder and more in-depth research.
The new wave of competition will begin with the Research Challenge, where from August 4 to October 4, 2025, experts from around the world will be able to propose solutions for finding vulnerabilities in the highest priority areas: Microsoft Azure infrastructure, Copilot AI, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform business platforms, as well as authentication systems and M365.
For critical vulnerabilities, as well as for bugs in special scenarios, a bonus is provided to the reward, plus 50% of the payout, and If multiple criteria match, the maximum amount increases.
Selected participants may receive an invitation to a confidential event at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond in spring 2026. There, top specialists will collaborate with company engineers to collectively analyze the most complex cases, such as Kubernetes exploits or attacks on Copilot language models. But the essence of the event is not competition, but knowledge sharing: experts will analyze the most dangerous exploit scenarios, from bypassing protections in virtual environments to hidden attacks on artificial intelligence.
The program operates according to strict rules of responsible disclosure: rewards depend on the severity and reproducibility of the vulnerability, as well as its impact on the company, which is assessed using international parameters and internal risk models.
Expanding the maximum fund to $5 million is not only a way to support ingenuity, but also a recognition that new technologies require greater attention to security. Microsoft is focusing on artificial intelligence vulnerabilities(attacks that can corrupt models) and cloud access control flaws that could lead to large-scale breaches. It places particular emphasis on scenarios where hypervisors or AI inference algorithms are at risk.
This strategy reflects a global trend: large companies are using crowdsourcing to proactively search for vulnerabilities, so as not to give in to attackers even a single step. In conditions where not only corporate data but also the security of entire countries’ infrastructures are at stake, such initiatives are becoming an integral part of global protection.
All results are accepted through the official MSRC channel, and participants receive not only a cash prize but also the prestige of recognition in the professional community. Past history shows that such competitions don’t just correct mistakes, they actually increase the sustainability of new technologies and, perhaps, prevent disasters before they occur.
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