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Bug bounty – According to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, the United States and India are the top countries from which researchers submit their bugs. India has either the largest or second-largest number of bug bounty hunters in the world. Bug bounty hunters are security researchers who make money finding vulnerabilities in software, applications.
What is bug bounty hunting and how does it work?
For the uninitiated, bug bounty hunting is a method to discover vulnerabilities before black hats do. The Bug Bounty platform helps organizations discover overlooked vulnerabilities in their code and software. They help organizations by disclosing vulnerabilities they find relating to their web applications, APIs, mobile applications, and software.
Hacking for money is a serious business and bug bounty hunters take it seriously. Though it is a legally grey area, bug bounty hunting can pay well and help you develop your hacking skills, so it is a great all-around activity to engage in.
Not only do bug bounty programs give you targeted security practice and the potential for financial gain, but they also often offer a great way to build a relationship with companies too.
Some people in the software development industry are full-time bug bounty hunters, but the majority are software developers or penetration testers who pursue bug bounties as a way to supplement their income and sharpen their hacking skills.
What purpose do bug bounty programs exist ?
A bug bounty is a program offered by various companies to hackers and security researchers who inform the company of bugs that can lead to security problems or data breaches.
If a company’s system isn’t secure, then black hat hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in the system and cause a lot of damage, sometimes costing the company millions of dollars.
Companies often have dedicated IT teams that are tasked with information security. However, this differs from person to person and company to company. Penetration testing is performed by individuals or groups that don’t work for the company but are looking at the software with fresh pairs of eyes and can potentially discover something a company’s current IT team missed. This concept is called bug bounty programs. You can find different bug bounty programs from Google, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and many more renowned companies.
How to get started as a bug bounty hunter ?
A background in computer security or knowledge of vulnerability assessment would be an asset. While some people learn the art of bug bounty hunting on their own, many others turn to websites, blogs, and other resources to stay up-to-date on recent trends.
What platforms are involved? What are the methods hackers use to attack those platforms? And what kinds of tools do those hackers use to accomplish those methods? This should give you some insight into how you can get started as a bug bounty hunter.
Some of the key areas to focus on are cross-site scripting and SQL injection. Before jumping into this domain, you want to assure yourself of your ability to maintain a strong understanding of business logic and information gathering.
What are the best Bug Bounty Books ?
If you want to start a career as a bug bounty hunter, then you’ll need to read these three books. There are several other books about bug bounty hunting available, but these two are considered to be one of the best by many pros.
- Breaking into Information Security: Learning the Ropes 101
Breaking into Information is a guiding book that teaches you how to break into the information security industry. In this ebook, they cover topics from starting your career in Penetration Testing to learning the core fundamentals of web application testing by building your own vulnerable web application. they also give an overview of the tools and resources you need to get started in this industry. Whether you are a student who is looking to learn the basics of web application testing or a Security professional who wants to take their skills to the next level, this E-book will get you moving towards the bug bounty hunter goal.
- The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook
The Web Application Hackers Handbook, 2nd Edition is a guide filled with hundreds of hands-on techniques and detailed walkthroughs. Written by one of the most respected security researchers in the field, this book includes up-to-date coverage on the latest technologies, such as Node.js and mobile platforms, and discusses remoting frameworks, HTML5 cross-domain integration techniques, UI redress frame busting, HTTP parameter pollution, hybrid file attacks and much more. This book is for those who have mastered essential web application hacking concepts or those already familiar with the basic building blocks of web applications but would like to develop their skills further.
Which Os To Prefer Linux or windows?
When it comes to penetration testing (or security testing), Kali Linux is definitely one of the best options. Kali Linux is a distribution of Linux, which is loaded with lots of tools that are made to help you in cracking some of the toughest cyber security infrastructures. It is due to this reason that the creators of Kali Linux have created the OS since it helps you in getting your job done. However, it is not mandatory.
You can also do it with windows but you may need to do extra research and extra tools to perform bug bounties. And also you can install a virtual box to install a Linux environment on your windows. And I prefer this method at the beginning state of hacking and cybersecurity.
Where and How to start practicing Pentesting?
One of the most crucial things when it comes to bug bounty training on vulnerability assessment or penetration testing is having a way to practice on your own, without going through a training institute. A special technique is needed to locate the security flaws in a program. You need to practice and be methodical in your approach. You can use a virtual platform that has many characteristics of the real application and then try to find the vulnerabilities. There are many platforms that provide this setup for learning and practicing bug bounty programs or vulnerabilities testing. Some of them are Hackerone, Try to hack me, and many more.
If you want to learn or want to know what after this and need help from my side then contact me I will be helping you with your queries.