Authors: Esther Gal-Or, Muhammad Zia Hydari, Rahul Telang

Published on: April 26, 2024

Impact Score: 8.0

Arxiv code: Arxiv:2404.17497

Summary

• What is new: Shows BBPs increase profits for vendors, enable earlier software releases, and highlights how optimal BBP participant numbers and bounty amounts should be determined.
• Why this is important: Software vulnerabilities exploited by malicious hackers compromise system and data security.
• What the research proposes: Examining the use of bug bounty programs (BBPs) to incentivize ethical hackers to identify and report vulnerabilities, using game theoretic models to analyze interactions between software vendors, ethical hackers, and malicious hackers.
• Results: Vendors with BBPs tend to release software earlier with more vulnerabilities, but BBPs help manage these risks effectively. Optimal ethical hacker participation in BBPs is identified, and higher bounties lead to more effective identification of severe vulnerabilities.

Technical Details

Technological frameworks used: Game-theoretic models

Models used: nan

Data used: nan

Potential Impact

Software vendors that utilize BBPs could disrupt the market by releasing software quicker while managing security risks more effectively. BBP platforms benefit from growing adoption.

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