The Showdown Between Bug Bounty Programs and Penetration Testing

1. What are the advantages of bug bounty programs over normal testing practices?
2. What is the difference between penetration testing and security testing?
3. When should you do penetration testing?
4. What are the disadvantages of penetration testing?
5. Are bug bounties worth it?
6. Why is there a bug bounty?
7. What is penetration testing with example?
8. How much does a penetration tester make?
9. How is penetration testing done?
10. What should good penetration testing include?
11. What is included in a penetration test?
12. Is penetration testing legal?

What are the advantages of bug bounty programs over normal testing practices?

One of the advantages of a bug bounty program is that it is continuous testing. A penetration test is typically a one-time assessment of your security at a point in time. While it gives you a good understanding of your security and the weaknesses of your network, it is only accurate while the network remains unchanged.

What is the difference between penetration testing and security testing?

The main difference between the penetration testing and the other type of testing is that vulnerability scans and vulnerability assessments, search systems for known vulnerabilities and a penetration test attempts to actively exploit weaknesses in an environment. A penetration test requires various levels of expertise.

When should you do penetration testing?

Penetration testing should be performed on a regular basis (at least once a year) to ensure more consistent IT and network security management by revealing how newly discovered threats (0-days, 1-days) or emerging vulnerabilities might be exploited by malicious hackers.

What are the disadvantages of penetration testing?

Tests that are not done properly can crash servers, expose sensitive data, corrupt crucial production data, or cause a host of other adverse effects associated with mimicking a criminal hack.

Are bug bounties worth it?

Creating a bug bounty program can save organizations money. But a vulnerability research initiative isn't the only tool available for realizing a proactive approach to security. ... Even more significantly, hackers get paid through a bug bounty program only if they report valid vulnerabilities no one has uncovered before.

Why is there a bug bounty?

A bug bounty is an alternative way to detect software and configuration errors that can slip past developers and security teams, and later lead to big problems. ... Even if your company doesn't offer bug bounties, you need to establish a vulnerability disclosure policy as soon as possible.

What is penetration testing with example?

Penetration Testing or Pen Testing is a type of Security Testing used to uncover vulnerabilities, threats and risks that an attacker could exploit in software applications, networks or web applications. ... Common vulnerabilities include design errors, configuration errors, software bugs etc.

How much does a penetration tester make?

How much does a penetration tester make? As of August 2020, PayScale reports a nationwide average penetration tester salary of $84,690. Actual offers may come with lower or higher salary figures, depending on industry, location, experience, and performance requirements.

How is penetration testing done?

This stage uses web application attacks, such as cross-site scripting, SQL injection and backdoors, to uncover a target's vulnerabilities. Testers then try and exploit these vulnerabilities, typically by escalating privileges, stealing data, intercepting traffic, etc., to understand the damage they can cause.

What should good penetration testing include?

The test report should include:

• Any security issues uncovered.
• An assessment by the test team as to the level of risk that each vulnerability exposes the organisation or system to.
• A method of resolving each issue found.
• An opinion on the accuracy of your organisation's vulnerability assessment.

What is included in a penetration test?

Penetration testing tools

Penetration tools scan code in order to identity malicious code in applications that could result in a security breach. Pen testing tools examine data encryption techniques and can identify hard-coded values, such as usernames and passwords, to verify security vulnerabilities in the system.

Is penetration testing legal?

Although the procedure happens on the mutual consent of the customer and the penetration testing provider, a range of US state laws still consider it hacking. They all have a common ground: whoever makes illegal unauthorized use of computer systems commits a crime.