Microsoft Launches Azure Security Lab, Doubles Top Bug Bounty To $40,000

At Black Hat 2019 today, Microsoft announced the Azure Security Lab, a sandbox-like environment for security researchers to test its cloud security. The company also doubled the top Azure bug bounty to $40,000. From a report: Bug bounty programs are a great complement to existing internal security programs. They help motivate individuals and groups of hackers to not only find flaws but disclose them properly, instead of using them maliciously or selling them to parties that will. Microsoft shared today that it has issued $4.4 million in bounty rewards over the past 12 months. The Azure Security Lab takes the idea to the next level. It's essentially a set of dedicated cloud hosts isolated from Azure customers so security researchers can test attacks against cloud scenarios. The isolation means researchers can not only research vulnerabilities in Azure, they can attempt to exploit them.