Do This For your First $100k in Bounties

Overview of Bug Bounty Programs

• Companies are willing to pay substantial rewards for finding security vulnerabilities.

• Payouts range from $10,000 to $15,000 per identified vulnerability.

• Aiming for a total income of $100,000 a year is achievable.

Roadmap to Earning $100,000

• Start with achievable financial milestones:

  • Aim for $1,000 first, then $10,000, and scale towards $100,000.

• Creation of a community (100K Club on Discord) for sharing tips and accountability.

Picking the Right Targets

• Target companies that meet two key criteria:

  • High payout for vulnerabilities.

  • Large attack surface with many features or products.

• Example companies:

  • Amazon: Frequently updates code, offers multiple services, and has numerous microservices.

  • FIS: Handles global financial transactions, presenting complex systems with potential vulnerabilities.

  • Other noteworthy companies: T-Mobile, TikTok, Epic Games.

Strategies for Success

• Focus on understanding the target's business model and tech stack:

  • Know what impacts their revenue and where vulnerabilities hurt them most.

  • Understand their frameworks, authentication processes, and deployment workflows.

• Top hunters remain updated on CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) related to their target's technology.

  • Follow insights from successful bug bounty hunters' write-ups.

Picking a Niche

• Concentrate efforts on specific areas of web and mobile security.

• Master a single target program rather than spreading efforts thin across many.

• Engage in continuous learning:

  • Research methodologies and bug findings.

  • Participate in relevant communities, like Discord.

Practical Hunting Strategies

• Active participation in live hacking events can lead to exclusive opportunities.

• Key vulnerability types to focus on for high-impact findings:

  • XSS (Cross-Site Scripting): Chaining vulnerabilities for account takeovers, targeting admin panels with blind XSS.

  • SSRF (Server-Side Request Forgery): Especially impactful in cloud environments for accessing internal services.

    • Investigate internal structures, default ports, and Kubernetes setups for greater impact.

  • Authorization Issues: Look beyond basic vulnerabilities, focusing on sensitive data leaks and unauthorized access to admin functionalities.

Importance of Proper API Testing

• Correctly fuzzing APIs, understanding the options and parameters to create meaningful tests rather than random attempts.