Bounty programs have proven to be an excellent way to uncover and resolve vulnerabilities in software, but unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just opening one up. This guide will take you through the steps needed to start a bug bounty program so that you can quickly and easily find and fix any vulnerabilities that might be lurking in your system and improve the security of your application or website. After reading this post, you’ll know how to start a bug bounty program no matter where you are in the world and also how to pay researchers who report valid vulnerabilities as safely and securely as possible.
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The Challenges
According to Hacking Team, Bug bounty is nothing but a reward offered by certain organizations (primarily software developers) to individuals who report valid vulnerabilities or security bugs which affect a given product or service. Hence, it provides an incentive for independent researchers and security professionals to probe and examine products or services for bugs and errors. The Bug Bounty approach is somewhat opposite of Security through Obscurity, which means instead of making systems secure by hiding their flaws/vulnerabilities from public knowledge, bug bounty programs publicly acknowledge them and offer rewards for reporting such flaws. There are many renowned companies offering bug bounties, like Google(since 2010), Facebook(since 2013), Apple(since 2016), Microsoft(since 2017) etc.
The Benefits
The number of ethical hackers and researchers who are earning millions by finding bugs and vulnerabilities on popular websites is increasing day by day. As per many reports, for every discovered vulnerability, an average ethical hacker receives $5,000. So if you’re talented at bug bounty hunting and bug discovery, then it’s time for you to get paid for your work. In bug bounty programs hackers are rewarded with cash and prizes that can easily exceed more than $100,000 USD each. So let’s explore how can you start bug bounty program and earn money as a ethical hacker?
The Tools
Web Application Vulnerability Scanners – Most security professionals will use a Web application vulnerability scanner. These tools work by doing a series of automated checks against different parts of your web app. The most popular is called Burp Suite, but many companies offer their own Burp killer that includes additional features. For bug bounty hunters, though, these commercial options can be prohibitively expensive and you should look into Burp Suite alternatives such as ZAP (Zen) or OWASP Zed Attack Proxy (ZAP). Also popular are SQL injection scanners like SQLMap or Havij . Keep in mind that tools such as Burp and Nikto can also be used for legitimate purposes like identifying vulnerabilities so consider them carefully before downloading anything.
Getting Started as a Security Researcher
Before you dive into bug bounty programs, it’s important to get an understanding of how white hat hacking works. A successful researcher will have a broad range of skills, and experience as a black hat hacker may not be one of them. Before taking on bug bounty hunters as clients, agencies should ask themselves if they can contribute value beyond their existing expertise and resources. At a minimum, security researchers will need guidance on setting up a virtual machine so they can replicate vulnerabilities in different environments. If you’re looking for security researchers who specialize in JavaScript penetration testing or mobile penetration testing , keep those skills in mind when creating your RFP and posting it online so you can easily screen out candidates who don’t have that specific set of skills.
Resources
This is what you have to do once you’ve developed your research idea: first, start small. If you have no access, experience or resources, there’s little sense getting started on something that’s too big. Then, select a target for your work. An excellent place to begin is with some of your more familiar platforms; Facebook and LinkedIn are popular places for bug bounty hunters. Finally, identify an ideal location for finding vulnerabilities (when starting out). This might be a particular technology stack used by a company; when it comes time to pick an organization and make contact (discussed next), starting with one that uses that specific technology can help facilitate any technical questions you may have during your investigation. How do I find vulnerabilities?