Intel Project Circuit Breaker Invites Elite Hackers To Throw Down For Big Bug Bounties And Swag
If you fancy yourself an elite hacker, there could be an Intel event in your future. The chip maker announced it is expanding its bug bounty program with Project Circuit Breaker, which will provide capable hackers with opportunities to win prizes and swag by hunting for bugs in firmware, hypervisors, GPUs, chipsets, and more.
Don't think of this as another rewards tier to Intel's bug bounty program, though. While the announcement is kind of all over the place, the gist we're getting is that his is sort of like the Pwn2Own event, but also different.
"Project Circuit Breaker broadens and deepens Intel’s existing open Bug Bounty program by hosting targeted time-boxed events on specific new platforms and technologies, providing training and creating opportunities for more hands-on collaboration with Intel engineers," Intel explains. "Project Circuit Breaker’s first event, Camping with Tigers, is already underway with a group of 20 researchers who received systems with Intel Core i7 processors (formerly 'Tiger Lake')."
Through this expansion, Intel aims to create a community whereby security researchers can receive training opportunities and new hacking challenges. Intel is promising "unprecedented levels" of access to hardware and technologies, including pre-release products, and direct collaborations with the company's own team of hardware and software engineers.
Think of it as an umbrella program for hacking- related events. This can take the form of several different types of events, such as live hacking, Capture the Flag, and immersive training, as well as show-and-tell videos, blog and social media conversations, and so forth.
There will prizes and swag, and also a leaderboard to fuel the competitive spirit. This could lead to new opportunities for hackers and security researchers, and of course Intel benefits by using the findings to potentially make its products and services more secure.
The timing is interesting as Intel gets ready to launch its first discrete GPUs since Larrabee, with the pending arrival of Arc Alchemist. In addition, CPUs and surrounding technologies are always becoming more complex.
For more info, hit up the Project Circuit Breaker landing site, which also has a link to the FAQ.
