Bug Bounty Programs: A Comprehensive Meta-Analytical Review of Strategies, Challenges, and Future Directions

Abstract

Bug Bounty Programs (BBPs) have become a popular and cost-effective way to discover security vulnerabilities by incentivizing hackers who disclose their findings in an ethical manner. This meta-analytic overview extracts lessons learned by means of recent research papers considering open-source development, e-government, education, etc. The research investigates strategies for governance, incentive structures, regulatory and ethical considerations, economic modeling, and diversity in participation. Research highlights include the role of a balanced formality and relational governance, the downstream effect of inter-temporal rewards, and the role of standardized vulnerability disclosure policies as mandated under legislation such as NIS 2. Studies indicate a range of adoption issues, particularly in developing countries. Finally, the paper presents practical implications on how to design inclusive, legally compliant, and performance-enhancing BBPs. This paper is intended to be a strategic reference for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to enhance the cybersecurity ecosystem with efficient deployment of BBPs.