Hacker Heroes Rewarded by United Airlines

Usually when you hear the term "computer hackers," you immediately think "bad guys."But that was not the case with United Airlines, who rewarded two hackers with a million frequent-flier miles each.

The hackers helped United find security flaws in their computer systems. So, to give you an idea of their reward, a million frequent-flier miles can get you to Asia and back several times first class. Or if you prefer domestic, that should get you about 20 round-trip U.S. flights.

If they had just found a few more flaws they could have earned an even bigger prize: The airline was offering a single one-way ticket AND a bag of peanuts!   DB