Microsoft has awarded a Chennai-based security researcher $50,000 (approximately Rs 36 lakh) for spotting vulnerability on the company's online services that "might have allowed anyone to takeover any Microsoft account without consent".

After assessing his report, the Microsoft security team patched the issue and rewarded him $50,000 as a part of their Identity Bounty Program, security researcher Laxman Muthiyah wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.