Proposal of a Novel Bug Bounty Implementation Using Gamification
This addresses the problem of high overheads in bug bounty programs for organizations with limited budgets, though it appears incremental in adapting existing crowdsourcing and gamification concepts.
The paper tackles the resource-intensive nature of traditional bug bounty programs by proposing a novel process that crowdsources vulnerability verification among hackers and incorporates gamification elements to reduce costs and improve effectiveness, particularly targeting resource-constrained organizations like Higher Education institutions.
Despite significant popularity, the bug bounty process has remained broadly unchanged since its inception, with limited implementation of gamification aspects. Existing literature recognises that current methods generate intensive resource demands, and can encounter issues impacting program effectiveness. This paper proposes a novel bug bounty process aiming to alleviate resource demands and mitigate inherent issues. Through the additional crowdsourcing of report verification where fellow hackers perform vulnerability verification and reproduction, the client organisation can reduce overheads at the cost of rewarding more participants. The incorporation of gamification elements provides a substitute for monetary rewards, as well as presenting possible mitigation of bug bounty program effectiveness issues. Collectively, traits of the proposed process appear appropriate for resource and budget-constrained organisations - such Higher Education institutions.