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Quote:Online auction giant eBay shut down the bidding for a vulnerability in Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet program on Thursday, saying that the sale of flaw research violates the site's policy against encouraging illegal activity.

...The vulnerability, which could allow a malicious programmer to create an Excel file that could take control of a Windows computer when opened, appears to be real...

...eBay pulled the auction after Microsoft complained to the company's Trust and Safety Team

The move comes as the idea of selling vulnerability research has gained more traction amongst the security industry and research communities...

full article: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/10/...y_auction/

Excel flaw auction relisted and deleted again by eBay, user suspended.  Security professionals discuss the merits of flaw auctions.

Quote:The auction may have set a record price for a highlighter pen and an 8-by-11-inch sheet of paper.

The last reported bid before the listing was deleted without ceremony was $1,200. The price might seem excessive, but the value lay in what some researchers believed was on the paper: Information about an unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft Excel.
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This week's understated auction represented the second attempt of an anonymous security researcher to make money from a vulnerability in Microsoft's spreadsheet application, only to be shut down by online auction company eBay within 48 hours...

full article: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/16/..._security/