Microsoft Corporation’s Trustworthy Computing Group has announced the BlueHat Prize competition to reward security researchers with more than $2,50,000 in cash and prizes for developing innovative, new computer security protection technology.

“As the risk of criminal attacks on private and government computer systems continues to increase, Microsoft recognises the need to stimulate research in the area of defensive computer security technology,” said Matt Thomlinson, General Manager, Trustworthy Computing Group, Microsoft. “Our interest is to promote a focus on developing innovative solutions rather than discovering individual issues. We believe the BlueHat Prize can catalyze defensive efforts to help mitigate entire classes of attacks.”

The top three winners in the BlueHat Prize competition will earn more than $2,50,000 in cash and prizes: $2,00,000 for the grand prize, $50,000 for second place and an MSDN Universal subscription valued at $10,000 for third place. Prizes will be awarded to contestants who design the most effective ways to prevent the use of memory safety vulnerabilities, a key area of focus for Microsoft. Examples of similar technologies include data execution prevention, which helps prevent attacks that attempt to exploit vulnerabilities in software.

“Microsoft wants to encourage more security experts to think about ways to reduce threats to computing devices,” said Katie Moussouris, Senior Security Strategist for the Microsoft Security Response Center. “We’re looking to collaborate with others to build solutions to tough industry problems. We believe the BlueHat Prize will encourage the world’s most talented researchers and academics to tackle key security challenges and offer them a chance to impact the world.”