Bug bounty policies are policies made by companies that offer the promise of no retaliation or legal repercussions for people that discover and tell them about bugs in their software. Many companies offer money and other incentives for people, often freelance hackers, to do this for them. This gives them many people to search for flaws in their systems since they are all trying to make a payday. This can save the company money in the long run for two reasons. The first reason is that they only have to pay out when a vulnerability is discovered and disclosed, not all the other time the freelancers are working. Second, by protecting themselves against vulnerabilities, they can save themselves from all the harm that comes with being hacked, including economic losses.

Additionally, hiring freelance workers in this way can help companies who can’t find or can’t afford to fill a full-time position in this area. There is a huge supply and demand problem in the cyber security world with the supply not keeping up with the demand for these types of professionals. This is a way around that. They aren’t limited by physical location or trying to entice someone to work for them full-time. Anyone anywhere can participate in this program, which means more eyes looking for problems. It is also good for the freelancers because they are not tied to one company and can make money every time they find a vulnerability. Furthermore, even companies with a small number of resources to devote to this task can still benefit from these types of policies, as freelancers will still come and look for bugs. I think bug bounty policies can be an extremely effective tool for any size or type of company to use in order to reduce their vulnerabilities and make their systems and networks safer.