As a part of being more aware and secure in terms of cyber-crime
and to stay clear off any possible hazards that may or may not come their way,
organizations have started paying up millions to those people who find bugs in
their systems.
Recently, a concerned cyber-space user received a message
that allegedly said, “Hey, we’ve got some money for you. Do you want it?”
This message had come from Yahoo in response to a bug that
the person had sent to the organization. As of now this bug-sending business
has paid up a profit of $1.5m.
Yahoo like many companies pays up to people who find bugs and
loopholes for them that could be potentially exploited by hackers or cyber-cons.
These ethical hackers sign-up with organizations like Bug
Crowd, Synack, Hacker One etc. who conduct bug bounty programs on behalf of
other organizations.
To participate in this,
a person need not even have a profound knowledge of coding and other technical
skills cited the aforementioned user.
However, he had always been a part of the security industry
where he learned deeply about the protocols regarding the swapping of data.
Nevertheless, there is a substantially enormous difference
between the way professionals work on cyber issues and the way beginners do.
It’s been long since people actually felt inclined towards
working in the cyber security industry even if they weren’t getting paid much.
Earlier and even now to some remote extent there exists an
underlying need for more professionally oriented skillful hands in the cyber-security
industry.
Many countries have government funded educational schemes
for school kids to help them have a sense of the cyber-security.
With 25,000 school children as their intake UK’s scheme,
Cyber Discovery had a fabulous first year. It’s an initiative to let kids know
that the daily work of pros is fun.
Participants get points when they complete each section and
the top performers get to attend residential courses that help them get better.
The big bug bounty hunts could be a great way to attract the
attention of young minds and help them get a taste of what defeating bad guys
feels like.
Anyone who wished to enter in the big bug bounties should
contemplate the fact that it requires a lot more than sheer luck to work as an
actual cyber-security guy.
“Also, companies should have their own set of defenses set against
the cyber cons rather than letting the bounty hunters know what the inner situation
is.”, said a source.
Nonetheless, it should always be more about being a
concerned citizen, trying to solve problems, and make a better and safe
cyber-world.
