With how complex software is, its challenging to ensure that there are no bugs.
This is simply the way of things that are human-designed and highly complex.
To minimize the issue, software development companies include code reviews in their software development life cycle.
But even careful expert review cant catch everything.
The very real-time and budgetary limitations exacerbate this.
Because of this, bugs make their way to production systems.
Some bugs have little or no effect, but others can introduce nasty security vulnerabilities.
A security vulnerability is a class of bugs that affects the systems security in some way.
Unfortunately, finding bugs can be difficult and time-consuming.
They also use a much wider variety of devices.
Combined, this makes the perfect environment for finding bugsmany eyes and edge cases.
The developers can use this information to replicate, identify, and remediate the issue.
The problem is that theres a minimal incentive for the user to report any issues.
Security vulnerabilities are even worse.
A malicious user could choose to use a vulnerability they find actively.
Alternatively, its possible to sell knowledge of the vulnerability on the black market.
Either way, users are not incentivized to report bugs and are disincentivized to report security vulnerabilities.
The method is simple, rewarding them.
The standard method is to pay a monetary bounty and to provide public acknowledgment of the contribution.
This directly rewards users for reporting a security vulnerability and encourages them to do the right thing.
Bug bounty systems are typically open to anyone.
Any user that identifies a security vulnerability can report it and get paid.
There are some caveats, though.
You also have to follow the rules.
The rules of a bug bounty system provide blanket protection from legal action if you stay within them.
Theyre often detailed but relatively straightforward.
Dont access other peoples data, dont use vulnerabilities maliciously, and disclose them privately and responsibly.
There may also be some things that are considered off-limits.
What Are the Rewards Like?
Realistically, the rewards are based on goodwill.
Generally, the company pays what is a relatively low amount for it.
This can, however, be quite a lot for the reporter.
Some bugs may be paid for less than a hundred dollars.
In extreme cases, though, some companies have paid a hundred thousand dollars for serious vulnerabilities.
Of course, most bounties are much lower than that.
Historically, bug bounties have been much lower and sometimes more of a simple thank you.
Sending out a free tee shirt or providing a free lifetime subscription to the service, for example.
Big tech companies have boosted the market, though, as has the arrival of bug bounty platforms.
Bug bounty platforms are websites that host the bug bounty programs of many clients.
They group everything into one place.
This makes it much easier for a smaller organization to run a bug bounty system.
One of the ways it does this is simply by standardizing the process.
The concept does trust that, generally, most people want to do the right thing.
Or at least they dont want the risk of breaking the law returning to haunt them.
It actively encourages users to test and improve the security of products.
It brings many new eyes to the testing process, all at minimal cost to the company.
Hacking is illegal; the bug bounty program permits testing some things but typically includes limitations.
If you dont follow the rules, you may be criminally liable.
