A later module addresses cybersecurity policy through a social science framework. At this point, attention can be drawn to one type of policy, known as bug bounty policies. These policies pay individuals for identifying vulnerabilities in a company’s cyber infrastructure.  To identify the vulnerabilities, ethical hackers are invited to try exploring the cyber infrastructure using their penetration testing skills.  The policies relate to economics in that they are based on cost/benefits principles.  Read this article and write a summary reaction to the use of the policies in your journal.  Focus primarily on the literature review and the discussion of the findings.

The article talks about the vital role of bug bounty programs in harnessing the collective expertise of hackers to uncover software vulnerabilities. It goes into the challenges posed by endogeneity in prior research. Also, bug bounties appear to offer benefits to companies of varying sizes. Additionally, it suggests that hackers may not be significantly influenced by changes in bounty amounts, hinting at the presence of other motivating factors beyond financial incentives. The study emphasizes the critical role of bug bounty programs in bolstering cybersecurity efforts and advocates for further exploration to optimize their efficacy in addressing software vulnerabilities. It notes that while the introduction of new bug bounty programs each month has a negligible impact on the number of reports received by companies, older programs tend to attract fewer valid reports over time.

The review and findings stress the key role of bug bounty programs in boosting cybersecurity by involving hackers. They underline the need to tackle research challenges and offer insights into hacker involvement and program age’s effect on bug reports. In summary, this highlights the importance of bug bounty programs and the ongoing need for research to improve their effectiveness in identifying and addressing software vulnerabilities.