Zero Day Quest 2026: $2.3 million awarded for vulnerability research

Protecting customers is at the core of Zero Day Quest. During the 2026 live hacking event, Microsoft partnered with the global security research community, representing more than 20 countries and a wide range of professional backgrounds, from high school students to college professors. Together,...

“The bugs pick you”: Inside Wouter’s security research journey

If you ask Wouter when his security journey began, he’ll take you back to a childhood in the Netherlands, tinkering with the 8086 PC his parents brought home when he was five or six. That early curiosity, fueled by racing games, trial-and-error exploration, and a tendency to pull things apart jus...

How Brad Schlintz built a life of freedom and impact through security research

At Microsoft Security Response Center MSRC, we celebrate the diverse paths that bring researchers to our community. Brad Schlintz’s story is one of curiosity, resilience, and a relentless drive to learn, spanning rural beginnings, career pivots, and a life shaped by both technology and travel. In...

Zero Day Quest 2025: $1.6 million awarded for vulnerability research

This month, the Microsoft Security Response Center recently welcomed some of the world’s most talented security researchers at Microsoft’s Zero Day Quest, the largest live hacking competition of its kind. The inaugural event challenged the security community to focus on the highest-impact securit...