Learn Computer Networking
A decent knowledge of Computer Networks is very much necessary for getting started with the bug bounty. Though you’re not required to have expertise in the computer networking domain to get started with bug bounty – but you should be proficient at least with the fundamentals of inter-networking, IP addresses, MAC addresses, OSI stack (and TCP/IP stack), etc. You can learn it from some of the quality online resources like w3wiki Computer Networks.
How to Get Started With Bug Bounty?
Bug Bounty programs are a great way for companies to add a layer of protection to their online assets. A bug bounty program is a crowdsourced penetration testing program that rewards for finding security bugs and ways to exploit them. For researchers or cybersecurity professionals, it is a great way to test their skills on a variety of targets and get paid well in case they find some security vulnerabilities. The number of companies that have a formal crowdsourced program is increasing and so are the people who want to become freelance penetration testers. The aspiring bug bounty hunters are of much different knowledge, experience, and skill levels.
Some are completely new to the idea of web development with little prior programming experience, some are experienced web developers with no experience in cybersecurity while some are highly skilled cybersecurity professionals. The steps that should be taken are the same for everyone, one can, however, skip one or more steps based on his/her skills and experience.
Let’s get started with these steps: