Innovation presents a paradox: as emerging technologies open new possibilities, they also increase unforeseen business risks. This is especially true for cybersecurity, which lags behind the mass adoption of emerging technologies. This trend is clearly demonstrated through AI-driven rapid digital transformation, with one-third of U.S. companies polled experiencing an AI security incident in the last year. Cyberattacks continue to rise as these technologies expand the global attack surface.
The situation is far from hopeless. The ingenuity and skill dedicated toward building these innovations has been matched by a renewed commitment to cybersecurity best practices on the part of businesses - as well as a willingness to investigate new approaches. If anything, the spate of high-profile attacks that have dominated headlines recently has served as a call to action. Businesses are still learning to navigate the importance of proper cybersecurity hygiene and are casting far and wide for the tools needed to keep their assets safe.
Two approaches, in particular, have migrated to the center of the cybersecurity conversation: pentesting and bug bounty programs. Although these are distinct cybersecurity methods, they are unified philosophically and can be used at the same time by an organization.
Understanding the differences between the two - how they work, and when to use both in conjunction as opposed to leveraging one rather than the other - can empower businesses to make informed decisions during this critical point in cybersecurity history.
Key connections between bug bounty and pentesting
Before explaining what distinguishes bug bounty programs from pentesting, it is worth explaining what links the two. At their core, both bug bounty programs and pentesting involve bringing in a human element to identify and contextualize your security weaknesses. Whether internal or external resources, these are personnel who augment your vulnerability management program, to demonstrate impact and identify issues that can be difficult to accomplish when only relying on automated tools. Pentesters and bug bounty hunters are a group of highly skilled and creative individuals who dedicate themselves to finding vulnerabilities in systems before threat actors exploit them in the wild.
In the case of pentesting, you can think of it as a “prix fixe” menu with a predefined price and expectations. Pentesting services determine this through a methodology based approach and are often time-bound engagements that rely on manually identifying vulnerabilities. Pentesters work more akin to an attacker, rather than operate like a scanner. The scope of this attack will be established in advance by the organization - it could be a system, a network, one part of a network, an application, etc. and are determined by compliance requirements such as PCI vs a risk based approach.
Once the scope is set, the pentesters set out in an attempt to identify and exploit vulnerabilities. Once a pentest is complete, they will analyze and report their results to internal teams to review and resolve those with severe impact. These efforts help organizations assess the effectiveness of existing security measures, prioritize remediation efforts, and refine internal processes.
As for a bug bounty program - you can think of it as an “a la carte” version of the same process where you pay per and as you go. Bug bounties are a continuous engagement where an organization invites the global ethical hacker community into their program to find vulnerabilities in their assets. The "bug bounty" in question refers to a monetary reward; one delivered to an ethical hacker if they find a valid security vulnerability. Like pentests, these programs contribute to improving organizations' security postures and unlike pentests these are continuous
The pros and cons of pentesting
Traditional pentesting has historically had a variety of limitations, such as a small pool of testers to choose from, lengthy wait times for reports, and a lack of visibility into the overall process.
However, recent developments have effectively rendered these drawbacks obsolete. The new wave of Pentesting-as-a-Service (PTaaS) platforms offer more choice, coverage, and pricing options than their predecessors, making it possible for a much wider array of organizations to take advantage of the solution.
Businesses of any size can access the benefits of pentesting: not only compliance adherence, but also risk based testing, deep analysis, dynamic reporting with actionable insights, etc. Pentesting is much more likely to help identify vulnerabilities like session expiration or violation of secure design principles. The speed and adaptability of the PTaaS model means businesses can easily integrate it with their pre-existing workflows and issue management platforms, minimizing disruption and thus speeding up the remediation process.
Here, too, the results from organizations have been unanimous: 54% increase in pentests since 2022 resulting in a 16% increase in the number of vulnerabilities surfaced by pentests.
The pros and cons of bug bounty programs
Despite the reservations around the term "hacker,” the reality is that ethical hacking is recognized within the mainstream with some of the world's biggest organizations - including Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Defense - using these professionals. This should come as no surprise: the hacker's outsider mindset has been demonstrated repeatedly to keep organizations resilient and responsive against ever-evolving threats. 96% of our customers say they're better positioned to resist cyberattacks through third-party bug bounty programs, and 70% say these programs have helped them avoid a significant security incident.
Historically, the cons of bug bounty programs have come down to time and cost. Before bug bounty platforms, businesses needed to build their own methods of communication with hackers as well as internal stakeholders as means of tracking report submissions and their status. However, with the proliferation of reputable third-party platforms over the last few years, setting up a bug bounty program is now easy and affordable. These platforms take on the brunt of challenges that comes with running a program, radically simplifying the bug bounty process.
Organizations can now simply set the relevant parameters, establish bounty tables, and wait for the submissions to roll in. If certain domains or assets need to be kept off-limits, these can be specified upfront and considered out of scope - ensuring testing can be conducted without hindering productivity.
However, the most compelling selling point for businesses is the value of results. The pay-per-bug model - in which hackers are paid based on impact using a sliding scale depending on the severity of the discovered vulnerability - means businesses only pay if a proven problem is brought to their attention.
Pentesting and bug bounty programs: tools that work best together
Both bug bounty programs and pentesting are useful individually - but when combined, they can provide a level of protection unobtainable in any other way. In this model, it promotes finding more novel and elusive vulnerabilities that can only be identified within the confines of a healthy and effective bug bounty program. Think of it as covering your bases. On the one hand, you have the continuous, proactive vulnerability discovery offered by bug bounties that obtain impressive results. On the other, you have the in-depth, point-in-time insight of pentesting.
Crucially, each solution has a different specialty which when done right are mutually beneficial and contribute to a greater overall security posture of any organization. Stacked one on top of the other, the information acquired can provide a day-to-day sense of where your security weaknesses lie - and, more importantly, how you can go about fixing them.
