According to Darkreading, hunting bugs can be a good source of money.

Security vendors are looking always for bugs and security holes. This way, they pay the third parties cash for the bugs they find. If you happen to find such a bug you will receive between $2000 to $10000 from the software vendors and from $20000 to $30000 from the black market.

“What the two markets have in common is potential impact: The more targets a bug can hit if it’s converted into an exploit and let loose in the wild, the more it pays”

3Com’s year-old Zero Day Initiative has about 400 registered researchers from whom the firm has purchased over 100 bugs, according to Terri Forslof, security response manager for 3Com’s Zero Day Initiative program. And the program has yielded results, she says.

“We’ve released 25 public advisories and have a slew in the queue waiting for the vendors to correct them,” says Forslof, who wouldn’t disclose what 3Com pays the bug-writers.

No one knows for sure just how much you can make on the black market, but tens of thousands of dollars for a browser bug isn’t unheard of. The infamous Windows MetaFile vulnerability used in malware last year was reportedly purchased by bad guys for $4,000.

“There are small communities of researchers doing this and managing to sell to crime syndicates,” says one researcher who requested anonymity.

No one knows for sure just how much you can make on the black market, but tens of thousands of dollars for a browser bug isn’t unheard of. The infamous Windows MetaFile vulnerability used in malware last year was reportedly purchased by bad guys for $4,000.

Did you found any bugs lately? Some bucks await you around the corner.