Bug bounty programs allow organizations to leverage the global security research community to identify vulnerabilities. India is seeing rapid adoption of bug bounty programs, driven by fintech companies, e-commerce giants, and government digital platforms.
What is a Bug Bounty Program?
A bug bounty program is a crowdsourced security testing initiative where organizations reward security researchers (ethical hackers) for responsibly disclosing security vulnerabilities.
Types of Bug Bounty Programs
Public Programs: Open to all researchers worldwide. Maximum coverage but requires significant triage resources.
Private Programs: Invite-only with vetted researchers. Better quality submissions with lower noise.
Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP): No monetary rewards — just a safe harbor for researchers to report bugs. Great starting point for organizations new to bug bounty.
Steps to Launch a Bug Bounty Program in India
1. Define scope clearly — what assets are in scope 2. Create a vulnerability disclosure policy 3. Set up a communication channel for researchers 4. Define severity levels and reward ranges 5. Establish triage and remediation workflows 6. Launch with a private program first 7. Graduate to a public program after internal readiness
Bug Bounty Reward Ranges (India)
- Critical vulnerabilities: ₹50,000 – ₹5,00,000+
- High severity: ₹15,000 – ₹50,000
- Medium severity: ₹5,000 – ₹15,000
- Low severity: ₹1,000 – ₹5,000