How to Become a Penetration Tester: Legal Practice, Skills and Certifications
A practical roadmap to an ethical hacking career: the skills to build, legal places to practice, certifications that hiring managers recognize and realistic entry paths.
Cybersecurity
What is Bug Bounty?
Quick answer
A program in which an organization rewards independent researchers for responsibly reporting security vulnerabilities in its systems.
Bug Bounty, explained
Bug bounty programs invite ethical hackers to look for weaknesses in websites, apps, or devices and report them privately instead of exploiting or publishing them. Rewards usually depend on severity, ranging from public recognition to substantial cash payments for critical flaws.
Programs define a scope, listing which systems are fair game, and rules of engagement, such as not accessing real customer data. Many companies run programs through specialist platforms that handle triage and payments. Bug bounties complement, rather than replace, internal security reviews and penetration testing. For security enthusiasts, bounty hunting can also be a path into a cybersecurity career, since a track record of valid reports demonstrates practical skill.
Related terms
Penetration Testing
An authorized, simulated cyberattack on a system to find and fix security weaknesses before real attackers exploit them.
VulnerabilityA weakness in software, hardware, configuration, or process that an attacker could exploit to cause harm.
Zero-DayA software vulnerability unknown to the vendor, or for which no fix exists yet, giving defenders zero days to prepare.
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