Top Bug Bounty Platforms – Companies

No application or website is perfect. Competent software vendors ship their programs 99% bug free by time of release. Their respective developers have done what they could and squashed what they can. Then they need to move on elsewhere. This is where bug bounty hunters come in. If you like programming, like solving problems, overcoming challenges and dislike imperfections, earn some money and hunt some bugs by signing up to these Top Bug Bounty Platforms.

The Top Bug Bounty Platforms listed here are mostly top technology companies focused on moving forward with their products and hardly look back using their own staff. Bug hunters are outsourced and has lately become a big income opportunity for coders who like overcoming challenges. You can find the remaining 1% or so of bugs and spare these companies the embarrassment or find vulnerabilities before bad actors do. Sign up to these companies’ bug hunting programs, earn some and be recognized.

Intel – Chips aren’t the only products they roll out. They also create firmware for many of their chips, as well as maintain internal programs to keep their store running. While firmware need to be as robust or bug free as possible, one can encounter more and more devices from various manufacturers that need firmware updates. Intel is after top talent that can find bugs or vulnerabilities in their products that their engineers can’t or couldn’t find by the time of rollout. Payouts can be as small as $500 dollars or up to $30,000 depending on severity.

Yahoo – It’s still early to dismiss Yahoo just yet. Despite falling out of popularity, it remains one of the internet’s mainstays due to longevity and trust. It can still pay out a nice sum for people who can report vulnerabilities in their website and apps. This does not apply to all of its websites though so it’s best to consult the company’s bug bounty program on specifics. They pay out as much as $15,000 for important bugs.

Apple – no company is free from bugs and vulnerabilities, even for a perfectionist such as Apple. But its perfectionism leads it to hire passionate outsiders to make it more perfect by rooting out bugs and vulnerabilities. Cracking their security isn’t easy but highly rewarding. They can pay up to 100,000 US for anyone able to crack their Secure Enclave technology and up to 200,000 for those who can find critical firmware security issues.

Facebook – social media sites that deal with people’s information are quite critical with security. That is, for information that’s not freely provided by their users. They have a bounty program not just for Facebook but for Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. There are some places where white hats aren’t allowed but it’s best to consult them on those. Bug hunting for this social media giant is lucrative and they pay a minimum of $500 and has no upper limit depending on how critical the problem is.

Google – despite its thousands of engineers in its employ, Google is still out for talent that can hunt for bugs that its staff missed. But these bugs are mostly related to application design and usability. Vulnerabilities related to the former are paid as well with a minimum of $300 and a maximum of over $30,000.

Microsoft – like Google, this tech giant also outsources its bug hunts. This time, for its online services only. As the internet points out, there are hundreds of issues with their desktop products and Windows Insider gets bug reports for free from passionate participants. But their web services are crucial and they’re ready to pay out a minimum of $15000 and a maximum of $250,000 for critical bugs.

Now you know the Top Bug Bounty Platforms to check out. Love them to support them, or hate them to find faults, fault-finding for these companies and their products can be a lucrative business.