The New Security Advantage: Crowdsourced Security in the Age of AI

A New Mandate for CISOs

Across industries, CISOs are navigating a profound inflection point. Generative AI is changing how software is built and deployed—and how fast it can be exploited. The speed of threat escalation has surpassed what internal teams and static tools can reasonably manage. The mandate is clear: move faster.

• Faster validation of new tools and AI capabilities
• Faster detection and triage
• Faster remediation
• Faster decision-making in boardrooms newly attuned to cyber risk

That’s why leading CISOs are embracing external signals: leveraging the creativity, ingenuity, and diversity of independent security researchers to identify what internal teams and static tools can’t see.

How Crowdsourced Security Strengthens Modern Defense

In our recent survey of enterprise CISOs, we explored the evolving role of offensive security—specifically, how crowdsourced models are being adopted and scaled.

Key findings:

• 89% of CISOs using crowdsourced security (across bug bounty, VDP, and pentesting) say it’s very effective at identifying and eliminating vulnerabilities.
• 85% say it adds meaningful value in uncovering privacy-related risks.
• 84% say it’s effective in surfacing vulnerabilities in AI systems.

The data is unambiguous: CISOs who go all in, using crowdsourced security across methods, surfaces, and vulnerability types, see exponentially greater returns.

Leaders Maximize Impact by Scaling Holistically

More than three-quarters of surveyed CISOs have already adopted some form of crowdsourced security. But the highest-performing security organizations, the ones setting industry benchmarks, are doing more. They’re not running isolated bug bounty programs. They’re layering bug bounties, VDPs, and third-party adversarial testing as a cohesive strategy.

The results are compelling:

• More vulnerabilities surfaced, faster
• Greater confidence in offensive posture
• Stronger resilience against AI-accelerated threats

Among organizations that combine all three methods and include AI and privacy in scope, the confidence boost is dramatic: they’re more than 2x as likely to say they can identify critical vulnerabilities, and nearly 50% more likely to trust the external researcher community for mitigating AI-specific risks.

Delaying Crowdsourced Security Is a Strategic Risk

Some teams hesitate. They want to refine the playbook. Build more internal muscle. Delay external engagement until “readiness” is achieved. But the data tells a cautionary tale: adopting only one or two elements of crowdsourced security often undermines its effectiveness.

And in today’s boardroom, expectations are shifting. With frameworks like Return on Mitigation (RoM), security leaders are now quantifying impact, not just cost. The conversation is moving from budget to value—from compliance to risk reduction.

Boards are starting to see every good-faith report for what it is: a near-miss avoided. In this context, waiting is no longer conservative—it’s costly.

Why Crowdsourced Security Works

Attackers don’t wait for perfect coverage, and they rarely go where defenses are strong. They look for edges, blind spots, and overlooked paths.

Crowdsourced security brings in what internal teams often lack:

• Diverse attacker perspectives
• Novel techniques
• Real-world experience

When structured and vetted, this outside-in lens disrupts the internal echo chamber. It sharpens defenses with real adversarial insight, not just simulated threat models.

At HackerOne, our researchers are vetted professionals who follow strict codes of conduct. We’re proud to lead with the world’s largest community of active security researchers, delivering adversarial creativity at enterprise scale.

AI-Driven Threats Require Human Creativity + Machine Speed

AI models and systems have become prime targets—and 84% of CISOs now hold responsibility for AI security and trust. These systems demand rigorous testing under unpredictable conditions.

This is where crowdsourced security excels. Researchers identify where automation fails. They surface logic gaps, systemic biases, and non-obvious failure modes. Paired with AI-powered triage and signal processing, human researchers extend the reach and depth of your defenses.

We’ve seen this firsthand: AI accelerates triage, while human ingenuity reveals what no scanner can.

Start Small—But Design to Scale

Many of our most successful customers began modestly, with focused scope, firm guardrails, and full observability. Adobe’s program started with limited objectives and has now grown to over 8,000 resolved reports, enhancing trust across its ecosystem.

Among CISOs who’ve scaled across bug bounty, VDP, and adversarial testing, we’ve seen consistent results:

• 2x more likely to rate their offensive security model as “very effective”
• 46% more likely to trust crowdsourced security to prevent breaches
• 32% more likely to view it as core to their strategy

From Tactical Trial to Strategic Advantage

Strategic leaders are no longer experimenting at the margins. They’re embedding crowdsourced security as a foundational pillar of their offensive strategy. Why? Because it works.

It’s how modern enterprises stay ahead—by proactively testing every layer of their digital estate through a living, breathing ecosystem of defenders. Not just internal tools, but a network of ethical adversaries aligned to your mission.

In an AI-accelerated threat landscape, progress doesn’t require perfection. It requires forward motion.

Crowdsourced security isn’t an add-on. It’s how leaders lead.

Find out how these leaders stand out using the crowd in our new report.