Bug Bounty & Crowd-Sourced Cyber Security

The technology sector was the first market to adopt the crowd-sourced security model and continues to be the most important user in the market, followed by the finance and insurance sectors. The Coronavirus pandemic has dramatically accelerated the growth of crowd-sourcing in other sectors and to cope with the crisis, many organisations are reinventing  their operating models by digitising their activities. 

Given the growing importance of cyber security in the economic survival of companies, an increasing number of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) are turning to Bug Bounty programs and buying the services offered by ethical hackers. 

YesWeHack one of Europe's leading bug bounty platform, has announced exponential growth in Europe, with turnover growing by 100% in 2020.  During the same period, the number of completed bug bounty programs increased by 120% and the volume of identified vulnerabilities more than doubled.

In terms of the types of vulnerabilities detected, YesWeHack notes that the evolution of technologies has led to a slight but constant increase in vulnerabilities. 

These result from poor implementation or design flaws and access control that reduce the number of technical vulnerabilities in corporate networks and this trend is expected to increase as the trend towards hardening of the development of networks frameworks continues.

One reason for the popularity of the YesWeHack platform among ethical hackers can be attributed in part to the efficiency of the programs and the speed of payment. During 2020, for example, 55% of vulnerabilities were paid for less than one week after the report was submitted, furthermore. nearly 90% were paid within 28 days. It can be lucrative too - the biggest bonus paid to a YesWeHack hunter in 2020 was €10,000.

The time it takes to resolve vulnerabilities has also dropped significantly.T he average resolution time in 2020 was 44 days compared to 109 days in 2019. In addition, almost 70% of the vulnerabilities detected in 2020 by YesWeHack researchers were fixed within 28 days of acceptance. This increase can be attributed in part to the progressive integration of Bounty Bug within the software development lifecycle.

Ethical Hackers will play a central role in 2021 as many user organisation's understanding of the strategy has improved. An increasing number of them are finding the confidence to put crowd-sourced security into the mix  as a key component of their cyber security strategy.  

The attack surface is also likely to broaden as remote working and longer supply chains increase the number of vulnerable endpoints. Organizations cannot guarantee the security of their growing volume of third-party interactions, such as with logistics, customers, suppliers, service providers, and finance. “These interactions rapidly increase a company's attack surface and complicate the security of their digital footprint. Left unchecked, these new exposures can quickly become the target of future cyber-attacks.” commented Romain Lecoeuvre, CTO of YesWeHack.
 
As digital transformation quickly spreads across private and public sector organisations, it seems likely that ethical hackers will have a vital   role to play, with a significant adoption of the services that  firms like YesWeHack, Bugcrowd, HackerOne and others can offer in terms of speed, expertise and risk reduction. 
 

ZScaler:        Crowd Sourcing Week:       Bugcrowd:          YesWeHack:          HackerOne: 

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