Ethical Hackers Reported 835 Vulnerabilities, Earned $450K in 2023
A study by Surfshark, a VPN service provider, has revealed that ethical hackers, or white hat hackers, played a vital role in improving cybersecurity in 2023 by identifying 835 vulnerabilities across 105 websites. Their efforts not only secured these platforms but also generated €417,000 ($450,000) in earnings through bug bounty programs.
The study is based on HackerOne bug bounty program data, a platform that fosters collaboration between security researchers and organizations, facilitating the detection and disclosure of system vulnerabilities. The HackerOne repository collected data on security vulnerability reports in 2023, meticulously organizing it by company, vulnerability type, and bounty size. This data was subsequently accessed by Surfshark in January 2024.
Surfshark’s research team head, Agneska Sablovskaja, emphasizes the importance of fostering symbiotic “partnerships between companies and ethical hackers”. She emphasized the essential role these professionals play in addressing software vulnerabilities, as complex platforms “with millions of lines of codes” may leave flaws behind.
Hack Read 01/30/2024