Over the past months, we’ve addressed the bug bounty misconceptions outlined in our recent guide, 7 Bug Bounty Myths, Busted. So far we’ve…

  • Discussed the misconception that bug bounties are all public
  • Examined the types of companies engaging with the bug bounty model
  • Debunked the perception some have that bug bounties are too risky
  • Talked about the testers who participate in bug bounty programs
  • Analyzed the kinds of results they yield
  • Looked at the knobs and levers available to manage and plan for a bug bounty budget

Today we’re taking a look at what it really takes to manage a bug bounty program in our last post in this series…

Myth #7: Bug bounties are too hard to manage.

Yes, running a bug bounty program on your own is difficult. Imagine receiving hundreds of vulnerability submissions weekly, many of them unimportant, and many of them duplicates of known vulnerabilities. Once you weed through those submissions, you’ll have to respond if needed, rank it by priority to your business and figure out what it’s worth. Then you’ll have to file a ticket to make sure it gets fixed and the most fun part of all, pay the researcher, which as you can imagine, may get tricky.
As you should know, however, bug bounty programs can be incredibly powerful and insightful additions to any application security program. So how does one make it easy to manage this vulnerability channel? Managed bug bounty solutions with a third-party provider like Bugcrowd takes much of the legwork out of running a bug bounty program. With a powerful platform and dedicated support, Bugcrowd’s managed bug bounty solutions make working with independent security researchers efficient and effective for our customers.

 

Powerful Platform

All of our public and private, ongoing and time-boxed programs run on the Crowdcontrol platform with powerful features to help you run your program and make vulnerability remediation quick and easy. From setting up your program to integrating submissions back into development lifecycle, Crowdcontrol’s features support the success of your program from end to end. 

  • Customizable Bounty Brief: Every program comes with its own bounty brief where customers–along with Bugcrowd support–communicate what is in- and out-of-scope, as well as articulate the reward range.
  • Triage Engine: All incoming submissions from researchers are scanned to make sure they are in scope, nonduplicate and appear valid. Your security team is alerted when an identified bug needs your attention.
  • Centralized Communication: If you have a question or want to get more information on a submission, Crowdcontrol makes it easy to respond and work with researchers as well as establish ongoing relationships with top performers.
  • Seamless Payments: Crowdcontrol handles all transactions, ensuring that researchers are paid out quickly and fairly. Having payment information in your hands gives you visibility into your total spend.
  • Powerful Integrations: Notify your engineering team of what needs to be fixed by integrating with your favorite ticketing software.
  • Insightful Reporting: View key metrics of your program on an ongoing basis.See who is actively submitting vulnerabilities into your program and at what rate they are coming in and give management meaningful statistics. What are your most common bug types? How critical are the majority of bugs found? 

Dedicated Support

In addition to a powerful program, we also have the world’s most experienced team of application security experts and vulnerability disclosure space leaders to help make each program successful based on your needs.
  • Pre-Launch Consulting: Our team will work with you to understand your goals, help set your scope, make payment recommendations, and ensure everything is clear so that you know what to expect before launch.
  • Promoting Your Programs: Attracting top talent to your bounty program on your own requires a concerted effort and visibility. We have the relationship with the security researcher community to give you the visibility your programs need to succeed instantly and over the course of your program.
  • Bug Validation and Triage: Our triage engine takes care of initial submission screenings, but our application security team takes it to the next level. Before a vulnerability hits your inbox, one of our experts gives it a detailed review, reproduces it, and provides any additional information as needed.
  • Maintaining Activity: We want you to be successful which is why we ensure all researchers receive prompt responses to their submission to keep your reputation intact. We also review programs on an ongoing basis to identify when modifications are recommended to keep activity at acceptable levels to achieve your testing goals.
To learn more about the seven most common bug bounty misconceptions, read our guide.
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