In a recent video, titled Hackers for Hire, the world’s most powerful military organization looks at the life of hackers who search for vulnerabilities in operating systems and software products, for a bounty paid by their vendors. These hackers find security holes in systems, and tell the developers about them, giving them time to fix the bug and come out with a patch before telling the world about it.
Some other hackers choose the less ethical way, and sell these vulnerability details to the highest bidder on the open market, who may then use these details to exploit the weaknesses. One way or another, there is certainly an increasing market for vulnerabilities, as these bugs are worth a lot of money, according to the video.
The leader of Microsoft’s Security Outreach Team is an ex-hacker, who regularly seeks skilled IT security specialists to improve the company’s research efforts, using a huge talent pool of white hat hackers.
