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Application & OT Security · Foundational

Bug Bounty Program

A program in which organizations reward independent researchers for responsibly reporting security vulnerabilities.

Definition

Bug bounties define scope, rules and reward tiers, and are often hosted on platforms such as HackerOne or Bugcrowd. They provide continuous crowdsourced testing but are not a replacement for structured pen tests. Safe harbor language protects good-faith researchers.

Example

A company pays $5,000 for a researcher's report of an account-takeover flaw in its mobile API.

Exam tip

Bug bounties pay for results; a vulnerability disclosure policy may simply provide a reporting channel without rewards.

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