Incentives and Outcomes in Bug Bounties
Empirical analysis of Google's Vulnerability Rewards Program reveals how bounty incentive structures influence report quality and researcher behaviour — actionable data for CISOs tuning their own programmes.
Summary written by editorial AI · Source link below
arXiv:2509.16655v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Bug bounty programs have contributed significantly to security in technology firms in the last decade, but little is known about the role of reward incentives in producing useful outcomes. We analyze incentives and outcomes in Google's Vulnerability Rewards Program (VRP), one of the world's largest bug bounty programs. We analyze the responsiveness of the quality and quantity of bugs received to changes in payments, focusing on a change
Editorial Analysis
Most European enterprises run or consider bug bounty programmes but lack empirical guidance on reward design; evidence from Google's VRP offers a rare data-driven foundation for programme optimisation.
Benchmark your bug bounty reward structure against the study's findings to maximise report quality per euro spent.
Data from Google's bug bounty programme shows that reward design directly affects the quality and volume of vulnerabilities reported — relevant for board-level programme funding decisions.
Forward-looking interpretation drafted by editorial AI under human review — not a reproduction of the source. See methodology.
External link — opens at arXiv Crypto & Security in a new tab.
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