The Epic Rise of Ethical Hackers

The value of the ethical hackers is truly on the rise today. Did you know the market size of the global vulnerability discovery and bug bounty industry is estimated at $1.52 billion? This is expected to grow 16% annually to reach a whopping $5.74 billion in 2033. In 2024, Microsoft rewarded ethical hackers with $16.6 million while Google paid $11.8 million to the same. Over the past decade these two technology giants paid over $120 million to ethical hackers and researchers.

So, what accounts for this market growth? Why are governments, technology giants, and other industries willing to pay huge sums of money to discover vulnerabilities by engaging ethical hackers? Is there something amiss in internal security structures or does this widespread acceptance of ethical hacking provide an added level of security?

Bug Bounty Programs and Ethical Hacking

If you are new to cybersecurity, the concept of ethical hacking is the use of cybersecurity expertise to uncover and report security weaknesses in IT systems before people with malicious intent take advantage of it. In recent years, organizations from various industry sectors have sought the services of ethical hackers through bug bounty programs.

Structured schemes organizations use to attract ethical hackers who identify and report vulnerabilities to them are known as Bug Bounty and vulnerability discovery programs. By doing this, organizations achieve two things. Firstly, this prevents malicious attackers from finding and exploiting the same vulnerabilities. Secondly, it prevents ethical hackers from selling their discoveries to attackers who may be willing to pay for their knowledge. In exchange, the work of ethical hackers are rewarded with huge payments and recognition. Compensation amounts usually depend on vulnerability severity, complexity of discovery and the product or service in question.

Increased Payouts and Increased Motivation

Lately, technology giants have substantially increased the number of bug bounty programs and payouts rewarded to ethical hackers. For example, Microsoft rewarded ethical hackers with roughly $13 million yearly between 2020 and 2023. However, this amount rose by 27% in 2024 when it paid $16.6 million.  Similarly, Google increased its bug bounty rewards structure in 2024. The company now offers up to $300,000 for mobile vulnerabilities and $250,000 for Chrome related vulnerabilities. Though these rewards sound impressive, Apple’s bug bounty program offers as much as $2 million for a single vulnerability.

Microsoft last year announced an expansion to its bug bounty program with the launch of Zero Day Quest. This ethical hacking event focuses on Microsoft’s cloud and AI services and offers up to $4 million in rewards. Furthermore, the UK’s Ministry of Defense announced on Hacker One, that it is expanding its bug bounty program. This follows a similar initiative of the United States Government’s Hack the Pentagon program.

Big Tech and Governments aside, Finance, Banking, Retail and Software Development companies are the fore runners propelling the vulnerability discovery market. With the prevalent use of cloud computing, web and mobile devices, every business type is at risk of one vulnerability or the other. Interestingly, many have chosen the proactive approach of assuming breach and engaging the skills of ethical hackers.

The Driving Force

In essence, bug bounty and vulnerability discovery programs have become an integral part of many cybersecurity strategies today. Organizations prefer to gain numerous benefits from these schemes such as the ability to obtain insights from a diverse pool of security professionals which ultimately enables them to take a proactive cyber defense posture.

Additionally, in an era of rapid technological developments, bug bounty programs offer the benefit of continuously testing technology products. The schemes can discover specific weaknesses development teams missed or areas in a system or software previously thought of as impossible to penetrate.

Indeed, ethical hackers offer a diverse viewpoint on how things can be accomplished. Because their thought process is similar that of malicious actors, their involvement in the review of technology products complements those of internal security teams. This supplementary effort gives organizations insights into the unknown, resulting in the discovery of numerous zero-day vulnerabilities.

Aside significant payouts, the sheer recognition of their work is another factor that drives ethical hackers to succeed. As the number and payouts of vulnerability discovery programs increase, so does the acknowledgement and respect of ethical hackers. They are not just called upon to attempt breaches. Now, the security of technology products involves the use of ethical hackers.

Subsequently, the contributions of ethical hackers offer end users rapid fixes to vulnerabilities. In some instances, their discoveries prevent espionage and advanced persistent threats. For regulators, engaging ethical hackers provide assurance that organizations are doing the uttermost possible to ensure product and service security.

It’s never too late to start

If your company has not already hired ethical hackers to examine their product or technology, it may want to give that a second thought.t There are numerous bug bounty platforms that provide ethical hacking services. Notable among them are Hacker One, Intigriti, Bugcrowd and Yes we Hack.

Equally, individuals interested in developing their skill as ethical hackers can start out with free capture the flag challenges and videos on Hacker101. This platform gives the benefit of meeting other passionate learners and engaging with mentors.

In fact, the contributions of ethical hackers far outweigh the cost of a breach. It is obvious ethical hackers add another lever of defense to the security infrastructure, either through bug bounty companies or vulnerability discovery programs of large corporates and governments.