The Power of Bug Bounty Policies: Economic Solutions for Cybersecurity
Literature Review
The research paper “Hacking for good: Leveraging HackerOne data to develop an economic model of Bug Bounties” highlighted the impact of a Bug Bounty Policy. A Bug Bounty Policy offers an economical solution, enabling enterprises to engage with freelance security researchers to increase their cybersecurity posture. This practical solution aligns with Linus’s Law, the idea that more contributors can lead to discovering more issues. A Bug Bounty Policy also benefits the security researcher by allowing independent workers to gain experience, enhancing their cybersecurity portfolios.
Findings
The findings section of the research paper presents several significant insights:
- The analysis reveals that security researchers exhibit price inelastic behavior, meaning their participation is not highly sensitive to changes in bounty amounts.
- Company revenue and brand profile show minimal economic impact on the number of valid vulnerability reports, reinforcing the accessibility of bug bounty programs across various company sizes.
- Research also identifies industry-specific effects, noting that finance, retail, and healthcare companies report fewer vulnerabilities. High stakes and better preparedness might influence these sectors.
- Adding new programs to the platform does not significantly impact existing programs’ report rates, implying that the pool of researchers has increased, keeping pace with market growth.
- Programs that do not increase their bounties as they grow older will receive fewer reports.
Conclusion
This research paper displays the economic factors of a Bug Bounty Policy. This policy proves beneficial for both companies and freelance research specialists. The value of Bug Bounty Policies is an economic force in cybersecurity, adapting and evolving to create a robust community of security researchers.