A division of 3Com called TippingPoint is to offer to pay for information about unannounced vulnerabilities in major systems and software. The Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) program will pay a reward to researchers who submit details of security bugs to 3Com. 3Com will then make offers to become the exclusive owner of the information, and will use the information to provide early protection to its customers.

"Increasingly, an ecosystem is developing around technical security research knowledge concerning as-yet-undisclosed vulnerabilities," the company stated on the ZDI Web site. "We believe that one effective way to capture this data is by establishing a best-of-breed research clearing house and community."