Decision-making processes are integral to how humans cope with many situations and make their lives balanced. Humans make thousands of choices every day through general information or by assessing alternative resolutions for the same scenario. Each decision helps shape humans’ cognitive response toward a problem by rationalizing it and identifying the right actions to follow. It helps humans focus on the task and distribute the amount of attention. In short, decision-making saves a lot of time and energy by rationalizing and creating shortcuts.

Some decisions can be based on biases that can neither be deemed excellent nor illogical. Biases are based on prejudices that can be positive and helpful in some cases. However, sometimes it can hinder us from growing or making the best decisions. For instance, someone believing in expediency bias tends to make decisions quickly. Such biases can be lifesaving in times of danger if someone comes to attack or if an accident occurs. But in instances such as making investments for business or crossing a road, this bias can bring more harm than good.

Prejudice is a problem that plagues many industries and professions, and cybersecurity is no exception. That’s why it’s best to use the seeds model in cybersecurity practices to mitigate the risks due to decisions taken with unconscious bias. The seeds framework has proved effective in making decisions while defining cyber security practices.

In this article, you will learn more about five significant categories of bias.

Understanding The Seeds Model for Creating Better

Cybersecurity Environment

The seeds model filters down five fundamental biases that form the foundation for all other biases. The seeds framework is especially essential when devising new and improved ways to manage software systems, create testing methods, and design new applications. Let us take a closer look at the biases that drive most of our cognitive ability for decision-making and their impacts.

1. Similarity bias: Choosing what is similar over what is different

Similarity biases impact decisions that correspond to people with identical goals or emotions. People tend to be biased to like others who think like them or have the same ideologies. For example, organizations apply such biases when they are making decisions about hiring, promoting, or assigning a project to someone. They may have a predefined idea of how an individual should perform, which can showcase highly motivated ones in the limelight. There may be talented individuals who have not been exposed to more experiences and might take time to bring their full potential to the table. Overcoming a similarity bias means being open-minded and welcoming different points of view and multiple realities.

In cybersecurity practices, similarity bias explains why people always think about the same solutions against different cybersecurity issues—for example, creating the same passwords because it is easier to remember and use them everywhere.

2. Expedience bias: Choosing to act quickly rather than delay it

There are things humans know for sure or have a gut feeling about. Some decisions may be instinctively taken, while others may be based on facts and past experiences. While quick decisions may save us from impending danger, one disadvantage of this bias is the tendency to rush to a conclusion without fully considering all the sides of an issue. It’s simply part of human nature to want to take the quickest and easiest route possible. Oftentimes, this doesn’t become an issue. However, when it comes to cybersecurity, this bias can have dire consequences.

To make it more concrete, let’s say you receive an e-mail from an unknown sender. The e-mail looks completely legitimate, and even contains what appears to be sensitive information. Your first instinct is to open it, but something tells you that you should probably exercise caution. However, your bias towards expedience gets the better of you and you click on the attachment anyways. Unfortunately, doing so releases malware onto your computer, which could lead to all sorts of problems down the road.

3. Experience bias: Choosing gathered information from the past to be the objective truth

Different people have different perspectives, journeys and naturally, one’s reality may not hold for others. Experience biases occur when one’s assumptions or preconceived notions dictate their point of view in solving a given problem or a situation. To escape the bias, people need to be exposed to new situations and experiences, intake others’ perspectives and reframe their mindset.

Experience bias makes one think that what once worked in the past can also work in the future. In today’s evolving world, the needs and security landscape change constantly. A strong security measure may not be the best approach for a new application or system built in the modern day. For example, a cybersecurity analyst who has been working in the field for five years is likely to have a very different view of the threat landscape than someone who is just starting out.

4. Distance bias: Choosing what is closer than what is distant

Distance bias is a cognitive bias that refers to the tendency to favor things that are physically closer to us. This bias manifest itself through various methods from the decisions we make about where to live and work to the products we purchase. The distance bias is often explained by our limited cognitive resources: it takes more effort to think about things that are far away, so we tend to default to what is closest. Overdependence on immediate outcomes is often less beneficial in the long-term.

Cybersecurity can seem like a far-off problem, something that happens to other people or businesses. Unfortunately, reality states that it could happen to anyone, anytime. This type of bias can lead to decision-makers feeling like they don’t need to invest in cybersecurity as soon as possible because it’s not perceived as an immediate threat. But by not taking steps to protect themselves, they’re leaving themselves vulnerable to attack. Cybercrime is a real and growing threat, and it’s one that all businesses have to take seriously.

5. Safety bias: Choosing security over seeking out to achieve

Safety bias is a natural human tendency to avoid danger. One typical instance is when people prefer saving money over investing to avoid loss. According to them, bad has more impact than good. This bias can be observed on financial, investment, or even cyber security decisions. A CEO, for example, might be unable to let go of a business unit that is not making profit simply because of resources already invested.

In the context of cybersecurity, this can mean prioritizing the protection of existing systems and data over the exploration of new technologies or the development of innovative solutions. While there is certainly value in focused defense, safety bias can limit an organization’s ability to adapt and grow in the face of ever-changing threats.

Safety biases make one slow down and hold back from making healthy decisions. One form of preventing safety prejudice in cyber security practice by organizations is investing in bug bounty programs against hackers who attack credential data and cause harm.

Smart Cyber Security Solutions: BugBounter

Businesses need to strike a balance between security and innovation in order to stay ahead of the curve. By encouraging creativity and embracing new ideas, businesses can ensure that their cybersecurity solutions are always up to the challenge. Mitigating risks in cybersecurity is not a one-man’s job, and it can’t be handled alone. BugBounter is a company that helps enterprises and individuals make smarter decisions and helps reinforce high security in their systems. BugBounter provides with 24/7 availability, scoping flexibility, and cost- effective bug bounty services with 2300 cybersecurity experts.With the number of daily tasks, cybersecurity programs should not take a backseat. Bug bounty programs help organizations identify bugs that exist without being noticed. BugBounter helps organizations seek individuals who can identify such errors and make sure that their investments in security programs never go waste. It also helps overcome exploits and vulnerabilities. Contact with us and we will get back to you immediately.

The world is in a state of rapid change, and this is especially true in the world of IT technologies. With each new advancement in web/mobile applications and IoT devices and network elements, there are new risks to be considered. Therefore, staying updated on the latest cybersecurity threats is vital. In a VUCA world – a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, you need a VUCA strategy to solve every problem with Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Agility (VUCA!).

Living in the VUCA World

Volatility refers to the high rate of change in the ecosystem such as budgets, availability of team members and demand from businesses. Uncertainty is the lack of predictability especially for the security level of new infrastructure, new applications, new releases that’s happening almost every week. Complexity is the different elements in a system and how they work together such as interaction between security and engineering, commercial growth pressure vs risk management and teaming up with outsource resources. Ambiguity is the lack of clarity while defending systems from highly skilled, resourceful criminal hacking activities. These concepts are important because they help cybersecurity executives, teams, and experts to understand and act on the risks and challenges associated with securing information systems. Read this blog to learn how bug bounty helps respond to the VUCA world with a VUCA strategy and Applying VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) strategy for cyber resilience.

Vision for Volatility in Cybersecurity

Rapid changes in the IT world is nothing new. Criminal hackers join forces and change tactics to create a constantly evolving landscape of threats. Unstable systems, hard to predict changes, urgent actions, tight deadlines will bring vulnerabilities to what was considered safe. Bug bounty programs have become one popular way to address the Volatility problem by bringing Vision from a global perspective. With hundreds of experts from 30 nations, Bug bounty provides unprecedented access to cyber security expertise, 24hr access, and focus to this crowdsourcing mechanism for identifying and addressing security vulnerabilities, providing the right direction and help making sense of the hacking world.

Understanding for Uncertainty in Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity teams can never know how secure the systems are. The lack of predictability leads to surprise issues and bugs. Safeguarding personal and valuable data from unauthorized access or data breaches is a priority. With the help of bug bounty solutions, you are able to see a wide range of security exploits, recognize the critical issues and discover potential flaws in the systems, and read the signals on-time. Understanding the major vulnerabilities in your system will open the minds not only for the security teams but the entire organization.  Bug bounty employs ethical researchers to discover security bugs in your system. This helps you understand how potential attackers could exploit your system and take steps to increase your security posture.

Clarity for Complexity in Cybersecurity

There is often a disconnect between security teams and other business units, which can lead to siloed approaches to security. To identify and solve issues, it is essential to have clarity and understanding amongst all members of an organization. One way to promote this clarity is by using bug bounty reports. This cuts through the complexity by opening a direct channel between the ethical hackers with security teams. By simplifying the testing process and engaging engineering/development teams within the organization and taking a comprehensive approach to enterprise security, bug bounty reports can help developers better understand their role in cybersecurity and how they can work together to solve any issues that may arise. The intuitive approach of bug bounty helps organizations develop skills to challenge complexity.

Agility for Ambiguity in Cybersecurity

Data without insights can be harmful. It is vital to correlate the different security issues to adapt quickly to changes. Bug bounty security researchers are able to trace even the small bugs and connect the dots to exploit a critical issue and report in detail. While patching the bugs before they are exploited, teams learn from their mistakes. Empowering the freelance security researchers over a bug bounty program will increase collaborative power and set your team members to perform a better job. If you do not innovate your cyber security approaches, suffering from criminal hacking activities are not far.

Bugbounter: The smart solution for your cybersecurity testing

While there is no silver bullet for safeguarding your cyber assets from breaches, Bugbounter will help to improve an organization’s security posture by encouraging continuous testing and identification of such vulnerabilities. BugBounter is known to provide 24/7 availability, scoping flexibility and cost-effective bug bounty services with 2300 cybersecurity experts at your disposal as and when necessary with a guaranteed ROI, as no fees allocated unless a valid bug is reported.With a well-designed program in place, bug bounty can play an essential role in helping to keep your organization safe from the VUCA world of cyber threats. Connect with us to get tested now.

With the global acceleration of digitalization, many industries have brought their sales and customer engagement platforms to web and mobile apps, but cyber attacks have started to gain frequency with this change. Cyber attackers find vulnerabilities and steal data, which leaves companies at risk, both financially and in terms of reputation, with demands such as ransom. In terms of cyber security risks, tourism companies that carry their services to the digital world are raising stars. Can tourism companies protect their digital assets and valuable data from focused cyber criminals?

Digital tourism companies are among the prominent targets of attackers

Many people made a quick return to their missed holiday plans with the end of the pandemic period, in which physical activities were greatly restricted mainly due to social distance.Moreover, during the pandemic period, the interest in digital tourism companies has increased in the making of touristic plans, along with the transfer of consumption habits to digital.While this increase attracted the attention of cyber-attackers, digital tourism companies, where reservation and purchase processes are quite intense and customer data is quite high, started to face a great risk.Mediterranean countries are rich in tourism and therefore in this region where the risks of cyber attacks can be quite high.Taken with data, it is estimated that while the damage done by cyber attacks to the global economy reached $1 trillion at the annual summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council[AG1]  2022, it will reach $90 trillion by 2030[1].While it is of great importance for every sector to know the preventive cyber defense methods and how to audit the security level of digital assets effectively, in the light of new generation solutions, digital tourism companies also have a great responsibility to protect their customers’ personal data.Many people made a quick return to their missed holiday plans with the end of the pandemic period, in which physical activities were greatly restricted mainly due to social distance.Moreover, during the pandemic period, the interest in digital tourism companies has increased in the making of touristic plans, along with the transfer of consumption habits to digital.While this increase attracted the attention of cyber-attackers, digital tourism companies, where reservation and purchase processes are quite intense and customer data is quite high, started to face a great risk.Mediterranean countries are rich in tourism and therefore in this region where the risks of cyber attacks can be quite high.Taken with data, it is estimated that while the damage done by cyber attacks to the global economy reached $1 trillion at the annual summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council 2022, it will reach $90 trillion by 2030[1].While it is of great importance for every sector to know the preventive cyber defense methods and how to audit the security level of digital assets effectively, in the light of new generation solutions, digital tourism companies also have a great responsibility to protect their customers’ personal data.

How digital tourism companies can be protected from cyberattacks

Tourism companies that offer their services on digital platforms to their customers may be able to protect their sensitive customer data by using some effective methods. In particular, attempts such as capturing the data that are the target of cyber attacks and demanding ransom by blocking access, as well as gaining unfair profit by manipulating the data, can be prevented by smart methods. Our suggestions to defend your applicationsfrom cyber attacks can be listed as follows:

1. Security tests of updated software and applications shall be done every time before going live. Make this a part of your devops process.
2. Engineering teams can be trained about different types of cyber attacks. Since cyber threats are constantly developing and changing, it is very important that these trainings are always renewed and applied to coding.
3. Test procedures can be established to check not just the new code but also the other functionalities as a previous security fix might be crashed again.
4. Powerful red-teams can be utilized to maximize discovery of security issues.
5. As cyber attackers discover new ways to infiltrate a system, it is necessary to set and watch alarms 24/7.
6. Security awareness level of the employees can be measured with the practice of phishing attack. Train them periodically.
7. Investigation tools can be used to find your copy malicious websites.
8. Employees can be encouraged to use strong passwords and password tools.
9. Bug bounty programs that bring together independent cybersecurity experts would be launched and the level of security can be checked effectively 24/7.

Digital tourism companies need to protect themselves and their customer data with preventive methods and shall be audited by new generation testing methods. The danger posed by attackers will not only result in a financial loss, but also have serious negative effects on the brand image and company reputation.

It is possible to stay one-step ahead with Bug Bounty programs

As summer begins, reservations and purchases increase, and the risk for companies’ digital data may also increase. In this period, which increases the motivation of the attackers, the bug bounty program can be performed to stay ahead of cyber attacks.

BugBounter, with its 2000 cyber security experts, ensures that companies’ digital assets are audited against attacks at the level of genius criminal attackers. Using similar tools, latest technologies and most smart techniques like criminal hackers, our experts (so called Bounters) who discover the vulnerabilities of applications report in real-time and help security teams to eliminate risks. BugBounter’s authorized teams provide verification checks as the security bugs are fixed to ensure the security is intact.

You can contact BugBounter now to start your bug bounty program right-away and eliminate cybersecurity vulnerabilities with the most cost-effective way.

[1] https://wttc.org/News-Article/WTTC-launches-new-cyber-resilience-report-for-the-global-Travel-and-Tourism-sector

Hack means unauthorized access and a person who do hacking is called hacker. When hackers are mentioned, most people think of malicious individuals. However, not all hackers are malicious. Contrary to popular belief, hackers diversify and are divided into different groups that represented by colors. Hacker colors are as follows;

● White

● Black

● Gray

What Do White Hat Hackers Do?

White Hat Hackers are also known as bona fide hackers. A bona fide hacker does not break the security systems of a company or business with the intention of damaging it. On the contrary, white hat hackers’ purpose of hacking is to find the vulnerabilities and weak points of the system. With this feature, white hat hackers work in various software companies and contribute to the reliability of brands.

Reliable hackers report the vulnerabilities they find in the system to the people or institutions that use and create the system. After this report, a certain period of time is given to eliminate the vulnerability and the system is not damaged during this period. Then they make announcements in various ways to inform the public. With these aspects, the white hat hacker is a well-intentioned, ethical and reliable hacker.

What Do Black Hat Hackers Do?

Black Hat Hackers are the group that comes to mind when people think of hackers. Black hat hackers are the opposite of white hat hackers. They also intrude into systems, but engage in various harmful actions such as information theft, terrorism, and fraud. If the black hat hacker cracks the software, it is called a “cracker”.

What Do Gray Hat Hackers Do?

Gray Hat Hackers are hackers who are worthy of the color they represent. So gray hat hackers can be good or malicious.

Gray hat hackers generally work as white hat hackers but for various reasons, they can damage the systems like black hat hackers. The main reasons gray hat hackers start behaving like black hat hackers are because of their egos or their greed for quick money making. Long story short, the gray hat hackers are a group that stands right in the middle of the black and white hat hackers.

How Can I Trust When Working With White Hat Hackers?

When we compare white hat hackers with other hacker types, the most reliable hackers are undoubtedly white hat hackers. That’s why when companies decide to work with a hacker group, their first and only choice is white hat hackers.

White hat hackers receive different trainings besides basic hacker training. They also have different certificates in order to be a white hat. When working with white hat hackers, you can trust them to have these certificates. Apart from that, you can take a look at their past work to fully trust the white hat hackers.Despite all this, if you do not trust white hat hackers, you can contact companies that work with ethical hackers. Bugbounter’s team of white hat hackers working 24/7 to protect companies’ digital assets are always here to provide cybersecurity support for your company. You can contact us for more information about our products and services.

Hacker is a person who knows the vulnerabilities in the internet network structure and computer systems and provides access to computers, servers and web sites by using these vulnerabilities. Also, hackers are those who steal personal and important data and prevent systems from working. But how do you become a good hacker?

First of all, hackers should use their abilities for useful purposes. Cyber security is one of the fields where they can use these abilities and there is a great shortage of employees in this field. With the increasing use of the internet, the need for cyber security is also increasing. It is also thought that hacking will become a popular profession in the near future. So why do good hackers work in the Bug Bounty program and what are the superior skills of good hackers? In this article, we will discuss those who wonder about how to be a good hacker.

Why do good hackers work on Bug Bounty programs?

Bug Bounty is known as a monetary reward given to ethical hackers for discovering a security vulnerability and reporting it to the developer of the app. Known as the “Bug-Bounty” program in Turkish, Bug Bounty allows companies and institutions to leverage the ethical hacker community to regularly improve the security of their systems over time.

Companies need to work with reliable hackers to get this support and solve their problems. For this reason, the most reliable and successful hackers work in Bug Bounty programs.

Why do companies allow their own cybersecurity experts to work on Bug Bounty as well?

Why do companies allow their own cybersecurity experts to work on Bug Bounty as well?

With Bug Bounty programs, companies can block hackers to prevent exploitation of system vulnerabilities. These programs inform hackers about emerging vulnerabilities and offer financial rewards and an opportunity to prevent cyber attacks. Most companies that order bug bounty programs receive the first notification of emerging vulnerabilities in less than 24 hours. For this reason, companies often encourage their own cybersecurity teams to work in the Bug Bounty program. These programs are very important both for the development of the successful hacker and for the cyber security of the company.

What are the superior skills of good hackers?

Successful hackers have superior skills. These hackers are also called ethical hackers. So how do you become an ethical hacker? The hacker skills you need to acquire to become a succesful hacker are as follows:

1. Programming skill

All websites and software can be developed using different programming languages. The purpose of hackers is to gain access to the software. In order to access this software, you need to know the programming language used at a level to be able to develop the program and when it’s questioned how hackers work, programing skills are coming front. A good hacker should know these programming languages. With programming skills, they can detect and prevent errors that could compromise security.

2. Linux

One of the things a good hacker should be able to do is to gain server access. This means that to be a good hacker they need to know Linux. It is very important that they have a deep knowledge and understanding of this operating system.

3. Database Management System

Database management system is very important for a good hacker. This system is software used to create and manage databases. Malicious hackers often target the database. As a good hacker, it’s important to find weak spots that compromise databases so they can prevent malicious hackers.

4. Networking skills

Hackers must learn how computers are interconnected by networks and stay relevant by developing their skills. They must be good at discovering and dealing with security threats.

5. Social Engineering

Social engineering deals with manipulating people to access confidential information. This information can be passwords, financial details or personal data. Thanks to these skills, a good hacker can communicate with malicious hackers without revealing their intentions.

How does the hacker improve himself?

When it’s asked “how to be a good ethical hacker” it should be pointed out that they have to develop their skills and stay planned. Successful hackers usually work in a planned manner. If hacker does not work in a planned way, it is very difficult for them to achieve success. Hackers cannot constantly hack computers and systems. It takes a systematic study before they can hack a system. This work could take hackers’ days or even months. Moreover, a successful result is never guaranteed. For this reason, good hackers should improve themselves with various training programs.

BugBounter Brings Good Hackers and Companies Together

Our blockchain-based, 24/7 available bug bounty platform is home to more than 2.800 ethical hackers from around the world with different competencies and specialities. On the BugBounter Platform, companies can receive their first vulnerability report within the first 24 hours after their program is published. With a guaranteed ROI, companies do not pay for the report unless its validity is verified.

Contact BugBounter today to learn more.

Logistics services may be target of more cyber attacks, especially during the holiday

season, when the shopping trend increases. Today, logistics companies, which many

different people benefit from, have an important place in the global economy. For this

reason, they can become the focus of cyber attackers during busy transaction periods. In

this article, we will discuss why logistics companies should focus more to cyber security

and what precautions they can take.

Logistics companies should pay great attention to cyber security

The logistics industry has intersections with many different industries. This sector, which

provides services for a very wide supply chain, B2B and B2C, is also connected with

airports, ports and railways. As such, a lot of data is collected in logistics companies in

transactions carried out digitally. Cyber attackers also target companies with such data

richness. Cyber attackers, who can make many different malicious attempts from data

theft to ransom demand, target logistics companies especially during the holiday period

when shopping increases. This situation can cause many negativities in terms of financial

and reputation for logistics companies. In order not to face such negativities, companies

need to take many precautions at the point of cyber security.

In addition to all these, the logistics industry is also the critical supplier of many

companies. Therefore, an undiscovered vulnerability affects not only itself, but also

hundreds of companies it serves directly or indirectly. In this case, companies in the

logistics sector also assume an important responsibility towards their stakeholders in

terms of ensuring the security of their data.

Attacks on logistics are on the rise

Cyber threats spread to many different areas nowadays and when the data is analyzed

with a focus on the logistics sector, it is seen that the attacks have increased. This

situation shows the magnitude of the financial loss. In retrospect, it is reported that

malicious software hidden in a document caused 300 billion pounds of damage in 2017,

while cyber threats focused on the logistics industry have increased, especially in the last

5 years. According to the data, maritime transport is most affected by cyber attacks. It is

stated that since 2020, cyber attacks on maritime transport have increased by 400

percent.

Safety tips for logistics companies to stay safe against cyber attacks

There are some precautions that logistics companies can take against cyber attacks that

they may encounter due to intense data accumulation and transfer. It is of great

importance to take these precautions and to prefer wide-ranging cyber security

applications. Some of the measures that logistics companies can take to protect

themselves from cyber attacks are as follows:

• Raising awareness of all employees against cyber risks.
• Use of multi-factor authentication and strong passwords to access authorized
  accounts.
• Keeping security applications up to date.
• Leveraging cloud systems to protect against ransomware.
• Giving certain people the authority to access data and raising awareness of these
  people about cyber risks.
• Routinely checking for vulnerabilities and fixing detected vulnerabilities as
  quickly as possible.

You can maximize your security with bug bounty programs

With the increasing amount of shopping in the summer months, there is a great density

in the logistics sector. In this period of increasing cyber threats, one of the best methods

to stay safe is bug bounty programs.

With BugBounter, you can get the bug bounty program support you need at the best

standards. With the activities of 2000 cyber security experts, your systems are

inspected in detail against all risks. Moreover, in these inspections, high-tech and

dangerous cyber attackers techniques are being used. With this method, experts detect

vulnerabilities in your systems and report security vulnerabilities and provide control to

make sure they are fixed.

You can now contact BugBounter and start fixing your security vulnerabilities at the most

affordable cost!

A vulnerability disclosure policy aims to give ethical hackers clear guidelines to submit unknown and harmful vulnerabilities to organizations. This policy ensures that you have an open communication mechanism for anyone interested in reporting vulnerabilities in your products and services. So, why do you need to publish a vulnerability disclosure policy? What are the differences between Vulnerability Disclosure Programs (VDP) and bug bounty programs? If you are interested, please continue reading our article to learn more about the vulnerability disclosure policy.

Why do you need to publish a vulnerability disclosure policy?

Vulnerability disclosure is the process of making information about flaws in operating systems, applications, and business processes public. The goal is to have product vendors fix flaws, and users can take actions against them before the same flaws are found and exploited by people with bad intentions.

Vulnerabilities are often discovered by security researchers looking for them. Since cybercriminals and hostile nation-states are also aiming to spot out these vulnerabilities, they must be fixed as soon as they are discovered. Vulnerability disclosure by decent people is an essential part of this process.

Differences between Vulnerability Disclosure Programs (VDP) and bug bounty programs

Vulnerability disclosure programs are a structured way for third parties, researchers, and ethical hackers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The bug bounty is a reward that organizations offer to ethical hackers for discovering bugs.

With a bug bounty program, when hackers discover a vulnerability, they fill out a disclosure report with the severity, technical details, and impact of the bug. These details help the security team verify the issue and create a solution to fix it.

Who needs a vulnerability disclosure program?

If your organization obtains personal information and promises to protect it securely, you should have VDP.

That is especially important for any organization that works directly or indirectly with the US government. The VDP should include a method for reporting security investigations to fix vulnerabilities.

Key aspects of a good vulnerability disclosure program

Loyalty

This section explains why the policy was created and the objectives of the policy. Vulnerability reporting can reduce risk and potentially eliminate the expense and reputational damage caused by a successful cyberattack.

Reliability

This section highlights that the organization should follow the policy. It also expressly declares its commitment not to take legal action for security research activities that follow a “good faith” effort.

Essential Guidelines

The guidelines also set the limits of the rules of engagement for ethical hackers. That may include an explicit request to provide notification as soon as possible after the discovery of a potential vulnerability.

Scope

Coverage provides a clear view of the properties and internet-connected systems covered by the policy, the products to which it can be applied, and the types of vulnerabilities applicable. The scope should also include all unauthorized testing methodologies.

Process

This section contains instructions on where to submit vulnerability reports. It also covers the information the organization needs to find and analyze the vulnerability.

As Bugbounter, we have established an ecosystem of experts so that you can always be prepared for preventing cyber threats. Our platform connects a network of ethical hackers and security researchers with organizations, enabling security teams to test their risks under any circumstances. Please do not hesitate to contact us to benefit from our services.

Bug Bounty programs are getting more utilized and attractive in time regarding their returns. Smart SaaS companies have at least one Bug Bountyprogram open to public researchers. So, what is a Bug Bounty program? It is a program that puts out a reward for valid security bugs through reporting them ethically. Bounty programs can be published for web & mobile applications, APIs, IoT, website, cloud servers, etc. It seeks to find and remove cybersecurity vulnerabilities by mobilizing hundreds of talented security researchers testing assets and discovering the bugs.

In most cases, the rewards are monetary based on the severity of the bug. Such challenge attracts security experts, ethical hackers, or anyone with the necessary skills. However, bug bounty programs are regulated within several rules and considerations. It depends on the assets each SaaS company opens to Internet or the type of cybersecurity vulnerabilities they want to find.

Contrary to the common misunderstanding, the researchers do not intend to operate a cyberattack targeting the company for their self-interest. The only thing that the researcher needs is a desktop or mobile computer, a good Internet connection, and the time required to thoroughly check for cybersecurity vulnerabilities in different scenarios.

Platform

Bugbounter is a cybersecurity services platform. With the bug bounty programs they offer, institutions can choose from hundreds of reliable cyber security testers within the company and start testing their systems immediately within a few days.

With the Bugbounter solution, companies instantly discover their open security vulnerabilities on the internet, reduce the risk of new applications, and take precautions before hackers exploit. With a bug bounty, engineering teams get better results in a much shorter time and with a lower budget. In short, the initiative discovers and confirms many possible vulnerabilities.

Vulnerabilities in the systems of SaaS companies, which have been digitized with the COVID-19 pandemic, create new opportunities for hackers. Therefore, BugBounter provides information on four current methods preferred by cyber threats.

●   Common Vulnerabilities

Attackers check the most common security vulnerabilities in the system they targeted in the first stage. At this point, common vulnerabilities known to everyone become a reference point to discover similar errors hidden in the codes.

●   Developer Notes with Unsolved Issues

Attackers who read the source code can find the vulnerability they are looking for here. Generally, the most easily accessible security vulnerabilities can be detected through the notes left by the software team for each other during the development process of the applications. Cyber ​​threats, who see the “FIXME” (fix me), or “RBF” (remove before flight) tags left by the developers while examining a code, quickly find the hole they are looking for. That’s why standard tags and unremoved notes play an essential role in hijacking this bug bounty system.

●   “SOS” alerts on support forums

Via this bug bounty solution, companies’ IT teams can post questions on a publicly accessible support forum using their corporate email addresses. Cyber ​​threats are also following them closely. It identifies easy-to-hijack devices, searches support forums, and finds firmware updates posted online that contain bugs. Apart from examining firewalls to find information that could lead to an exploit, attackers can monitor the posts of members of the cybersecurity team.

●   Spearfuzzing: Targeted attacks

Fuzzing is a method that takes more time to find faults and does not offer enough success. The only difference between spearfuzzing and fuzzing is that employees are included in the process. By using the knowledge of the employees to pre-determine the area that can be attacked, cyber threats can recover most of the time they spend.

Understanding the problem that compromised software can create, teams can better defend their systems by increasing the layer of protection in the most critical areas of the system.

 If you would like to contact us regarding the security of your company or personal data and have further information about bug bounty hunting, you can click this link and fill out our form, and we are going to get back to you on short notice.

Today, cyber threats can attack/may affect many institutions or companies in seconds, regardless of how big the target or the amount of company data is. With the increase of the cyber threats without a specific target, we can see severe financial risks for small companies and consequences that will damage companies, such as loss of reputation, high-value customers, cash and/or time.

Maintaining and managing customer information is critical for all businesses. It is a complex process to comply with existing laws, using the corporate network efficiently, ensuring that the operation is not disrupted, and protecting the corporate network against all kinds of cyber threats. At this point, company data protection is at the forefront. When analyzed, it is seen that cyber threats increased their attacks against small businesses and it costs significant financial burdens.

What is Data Security?

Data Security can be defined as the data protection against unauthorized access. The most critical focus in data security is to ensure its confidentiality and integrity while protecting personal or corporate data. Our data resides on servers, databases, our network, personal computers, and most importantly, in the minds of corporate employees.

We must protect its confidentiality, integrity, and availability wherever the data is. We can store our data in any written, audio, video, or drawing format, and they must be available when authorized persons request this data. As data, hence company data, becomes digitized, it has become the focus of cyber threats. The essential point of this focus is that the data has value, and a profit can be obtained in return.

Data is one of the essential assets for institutions to continue their activities, and generate income. Cyber attackers mostly focus on accessing these data with the aim of easily making money in an illegal way. Therefore, the main target of these cyber-attacks is mostly on the institutions that neglect cyber protection instead of the ones conducting strong cyber security operations.

Accessing personal datawithout permission causes numerous problems for large companies, small and medium businesses, or individual home users. The most common cyber threats are stealing your bank account information, stealing customer information in the database, and demanding ransom by encrypting data.

Main Elements in Data Security;

Data security is based on three main elements. These three main elements are listed as company data confidentiality, company data integrity, and company data availability.

• Confidentiality: To protect sensitive company data from unauthorized persons or unauthorized access.
• Integrity: To prevent deliberate or accidental alteration of information and company data.
• Availability: It is accessible by authorized users when necessary.

Nowadays, our digital company data has become one of the most important sources of income for SMEs or companies.  Malicious cyber threats that get a chance to access any computer connected to the Internet can steal and damage any company data, from the main servers of the institution to their company financial data or demand a ransom in return. Any institution that does not take precautions can encounter these threats at any time, regardless of whether it is small or big. This situation puts companies in the SME class into difficulties and has serious consequences. In the end, they face significant financial losses. Today, the GDPR related fines imposed by the authorities after a data breach can be quite severe.

What Can Be Done to Secure Company Data?

Cybercrime has now become the nightmare of our digital life. Even though large companies try to protect themselves by making serious investments against cyber threats, we see that SMEs, unfortunately, cannot make enough investments in financial matters, and they do not have enough workforce in terms of cyber security teams. Therefore, they may fall short of protecting their assets and the information that makes these assets valuable.

It has become impossible to prevent cybercrime. You can take healthier steps by strengthening your system, protecting it, and managing it well. Educating your employees about company cyber security and raising cyber security awareness across your company could be the first step of securing your company’s data.

For the next step, contact us regarding the company data security and have further information about this matter, you can click this link and fill out our form, and we will get back to you on short notice.