Five year old Kristoffer Von Hassel has been officially recognised by Microsoft as a security researcher and rewarded with free Xbox 360 games for finding a password flaw, the BBC reports.
Von Hassel, from San Diego, figured out how to access his dad's Xbox Live account without the correct password and Microsoft has now fixed the security flaw.
Speaking to local TV station KGTV, Von Hassel said, "I was like yea!" He realised that by using the wrong password into the log-in screen, a second verification field would pop up. To access his dad's account, all he needed to do was press the space bar and fill up the password field on the second screen.
"I got nervous. I thought he was going to find out," Von Hassel told KGTV. "I thought someone was going to steal the Xbox."
His dad, who works in security, sent details of the incident to Microsoft who issued a statement commenting:
"We're always listening to our customers and thank them for bringing issues to our attention. We take security seriously at Xbox and fixed the issue as soon as we learned about it."
Von Hassel's name now appears on a list of companies and individuals Microsoft has thanked for finding flaws in its security systems. As a reward for the discovery, he was sent $50, four free games, and a year long Xbox Live Gold membership subscription.
