Wondering what a bug bounty program is? You may have heard the term somewhere.
Nowadays, it has become the trend of finding bugs in the different digital platforms and getting an enormous bounty. Is not it cool getting paid just by hunting bugs for digital firms?
If you are thinking of making bug hunting a career option but wondering how to begin, then you are in the right place. Keep reading to get exciting information about the bug bounty program.
Bug bounty program
The bug bounty program is the technique in which many digital platforms and software developers reward a person with huge amounts for finding and reporting vulnerabilities for their assets. The bugs that are mainly concerned with security and other threat in future are awarded to the hunters.
The concept of the bug bounty program began in 1983 by Hunter and Ready. They announced the person who finds the bug for their versatile Real-time Executive operating system would be rewarded. Many big software developers, including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, etc., have executed the bug bounty program.
Both bug hunters and the program or software developer get the benefits from bug hunting. So, it is a win-win situation. Where developers or firms of different digital platforms will resolve the problems (Bugs), preventing possible security threats can occur soon. Also, bug hunters will get a considerable amount (bounty).
Bug hunting as a career for Nepalese youths
The bug bounty program is now gaining popularity among Nepalese too. This trend had started when Mr. Saugat Pokharel from Kathmandu discovered a bug in Facebook two years ago. He got $2,000 from Facebook for reporting the issue.
Nowadays, we hear news often, youth and even teenagers finding bugs for different websites and getting popularity overnight along with huge dollars. This has set the enormous potential for bug bounty program as a career choice among Nepalese youth.
How to start Bug Bounty in Nepal?
To begin, you should not have to be a professional hacker or master of computer programming. But, you should have some basic computer skills.
Here I will tell you the things you should be good at to begin your journey as a bug hunter:
Basics of programming language
Before finding any defects or vulnerabilities, you should have a basic knowledge of the programming language. It will provide you with some general idea about how your mobile applications or website is working.
Some programming languages to start with are Python, JavaScript, MySQL, PHP etc. Besides, acquire some idea of how networking like HTTPS, IP, and Linux operating systems work.
Keep practicing
The more you dedicate yourself to varied targets and difficulty levels, the closer you are to finding the threats for firms. So, make the best use of some vulnerable web applications such as BWapp, Webgoat, DVWA, OWASP etc.
Cross-browser analysis
Cross-browser analysis helps you to recognize if the websites are working as per your desire. So that you can pinpoint the browser-specific compatibility bugs. It will assist in fast debugging; enabling you to find bugs that can be problematic in future.
Test your real targets
You can begin hunting existing hidden bugs for existing websites after acquiring enough knowledge and skills. But, you can underestimate the competition among hunters to find the security bugs. It does not mean to stop looking for opportunities. Some popular websites and applications that run bug bounty programs are Facebook, Instagram, Google, Twitter, Starbucks, Apple, etc.
Take reference and help from friends.
If you have a friend who has an excellent computer and hacking skills, then take some ideas from him. Learning from a friend is easy and exciting instead of learning from online classes.
Have some persistence and passion
The bug bounty program is rewarding when we do it correctly; otherwise, it can be a brain drainer only. It is not easy as it sounds to find vulnerabilities and threats for firms. But if you have tremendous passion and patience to learn new skills, you can only succeed in this field.
The scenario of a bug bounty program in Nepal
BugV is the first official bug bounty platform in Nepal. This concept is brought by Naresh Lamgade, founder of Cynical Technology Pvt.LTD to provide cheap and accessible cybersecurity.
Many youths are now engaged in bug bounty programs as part-time freelancers. It is a new emerging concept. Now, the work of bug hunters has become way easier as they can report any bugs by using BugV.
But, Nepalese firms are not into bug bounty programs. Thus, Nepalese youth hunters are working on finding threats for international firms.
Shortly, the demand for bug hunting by Nepalese firms will surely rise to secure their assets. So, keep learning emerging skills and make you updated.
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