James Forshaw, a British security researcher, was paid a $100,000 bounty by Microsoft for finding a major security flaw within Windows 8.1.
The bounty for finding such a crucial flaw was $100,000, "probably one of the biggest made available," explained Forshaw. Unfortunately he's barely going to get any of it.
"When it comes to the bounties given for finding security flaws like this, most of it goes to the company you work for, and even if it didn't, once the taxman has taken his cut it's certainly not a life changing monetary sum - we're not talking retirement money here," said Forshaw.
Working for information security firm Context, Forshaw found a "mitigation bypass" within the Windows 8.1 security system. The bug is more than a simple vulnerability – it's an entire class of attack on the system. Essentially, a mitigation bypass circumvents the protection systems built into the operating system, and therefore potentially allows hackers widespread access.
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