The speed of development of digital technologies has reached an unprecedented high pace since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The companies operating in the digital environment are accumulating huge assets thereby becoming targets for malicious actors. The list of methods and strategies applied by hackers to compromise the security of their targets is constantly expanding and they actively use innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to reach their goals. The list of cybersecurity threats affecting businesses also includes the malicious activities conducted by state-backed organized hacker groups.
The global losses experienced by businesses due to cybercrimes reached close to $1 trn in 2020, according to the data provided by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in cooperation with McAfee in the Hidden Costs of Cybercrime report. This figure is likely to increase in the coming years. The biggest number of cybersecurity threats are faced by entities operating in such industries as banking, software, utilities, insurance, and high tech.
The list of the biggest cybersecurity incidents for the last few months includes:
- Сyberatack against Colonial Pipeline
- T-Mobile data breach
- Volkswagen hack
- UN computer network breach
As we can see, entities that apply traditional security assessment tools often fail to address modern cyberattacks. And the biggest security risks are faced by small innovative companies since the resources they can allocate to building security are limited. And one of the most effective security testing methods for such companies and reputable market players is bug bounty programs. It’s a security testing process during which a large community of white hat hackers works on detecting security vulnerabilities in clients’ systems in exchange for rewards.
How do Bug Bounty Programs Differ from Penetration Testing and Security Audit
Bug bounty programs constitute a form of security testing that may be run in parallel with other security testing processes. The key characteristics of a bug bounty program are the following:
- Duration: is determined by a customer and has a continuous nature. Security testing and penetration testing are one-time activities.
- Who is standing behind: a large community of independent ethical hackers is working on detecting bugs in clients’ products within the scope of a bug bounty program. Security audit and penetration testing are performed by the internal staff of a security vendor.
- Price: A security vendor determines a bug bounty program subscription and fees while the sum of remunerations paid to ethical hackers for revealed bugs is determined by a client. At the same time, the price of security audit and penetration testing is fixed by a security vendor.
Bug Bounty Program: Stages and Duration
Running a bug bounty program is a structured process that can easily be passed by large companies and startups. There are only a few major steps that need to be passed by a client applying for a bug bounty program:
- A client contacts representatives a bug bounty platform;
- Bug bounty brief and vulnerability management process development;
- The creation of a reward scheme;
- The program is officially launched.
In most cases, the duration of a bug bounty program ranges between a few months and 1 or even a few years. The representatives of a bug bounty platform are in touch with a client during the whole duration of a bug bounty program.
Benefits of Running a Bug Bounty Program for Companies
There are the following benefits companies get when applying for running a bug bounty program:
- High speed of mobilization of independent researchers;
- Reasonable allocation of financial resources, no need to maintain huge internal cybersecurity staff;
- It may be run in parallel with other forms of security testing.
Bug Bounty Program and Data Encryption
The application of data encryption mitigates the risk that hackers can gain unauthorized access to confidential data but does not fully prevent it. Running a bug bounty program in parallel with data encryption application significantly increases the resistance of companies to data breaches.
Bug Bounty Program: where to Run
Companies are free to decide whether to develop and run their own bug bounty program on their websites or they can decide to apply for running a bug bounty program on professional platforms such as HackenProof. In the latter case, companies get the following benefits:
- Professional platforms work with large communities of independent ethical researchers
- Professional platforms are interested in improving their reputation by fully meeting customers’ needs;
- Professional platforms provide 24/7 assistance to clients.
For more information regarding the benefits of applying for services provided by professional bug bounty platforms, you can refer to the following material.
Public and Private Bug Bounty Programs: Difference
Public bug bounty programs are open to all independent researchers registered on a professional bug bounty platform, while private bug bounty programs are open only to hackers specified by a customer. Also, when choosing to run a private program, a customer can decide to invite researchers outside the platform of work on detecting bugs within the scope of a program.
Information Disclosure
Hackers working on detecting bugs within the scope of a bug bounty program have to follow strict information disclosure rules developed by a bug bounty platform. Also, every solid bug bounty platform takes strict security measures to prevent data breaches or other forms of security threats.
