In the summer of 2005, Charlie Miller was working in his living room when he discovered a hackable vulnerability in a common species of server software. Miller knew he had found something dangerous. But until he offered his prize to a government agency five months later, he had no idea just how much it was worth.

"I asked for $80,000," he says. "When the guy on the phone agreed immediately without consulting his boss, I knew I should have asked for much more."

At Forbes.

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