Brace yourself: $50 Million in Bounties is Coming—and we are celebrating the whole way there!

Today the HackerOne community hit 45 million in bounty payouts, join us as we celebrate the hackers who are making the internet a safer place every single day.  The party is going to last the whole way to a history-making $50 million in bounty payouts.

Hackers, you inspire us

Hackers are now recognized as a force for good, working alongside company security teams to make the internet safer.

Your creativity, passion, teamwork, dedication, and humility inspires us.

At sixteen, Alyssa Herrera discovered bug bounties and HackerOne--she hasn't looked back since. Now a full-time bug hunter, Alyssa makes sure to give back to the community by sharing the knowledge she gained on her way to the number two spot on the Department of Defense’s leaderboards.

“What motivates me is wanting to help out security companies protect against breaches and improve their general security. Another motivation is being a role model for other women who also might want to get into this field of work.”

Shubham Gupta is in the top 4% of hackers on HackerOne when it comes to signal and has helped secure brands like Ubiquiti Networks, Twitter, Slack, and others.

"When I started earning money through hacking, many of my relatives and neighbors started questioning if I was earning through unethical means and warned my mom about it. My uncle (Godfather) was supportive and understanding. He has given me constant encouragement and helped me rise to the level I’m at today."

"[My favorite moment was when] I found a private program which rewarded me $22,000 where I found my favorite blind XSS which led me to an Admin account."

It’s about more than just cash

The impact of $50 million in bounty payments reaches beyond making the internet safer. Bounties have a multiplier effect and make a big difference in the lives of hackers, their families, and communities.

Across all countries, top-earning hackers make 2.7 times more than the average software engineer in their home countries. And in India, the largest population of hackers on our platform outside of the U.S., hackers earn up to 16 times the salary of an average software engineer!

The way bounty earnings change lives and support communities for the better is a source of inspiration and motivation to everyone at HackerOne. 

"One of the things that I did with my bounty money was helping my parents buy a house when I first came to the U.S., so that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve done with bounty money." 
—@IBRAM (IBRAM MARZOUK)

"A lot of my money actually goes into hiring people. I have a venture firm financing companies through bug bounties...I give the opportunity to people to get work and create a family and stuff."
— @fransrosen (Frans Rosén)

"The most meaningful purchase I made with bounty money is actually a car. For a really long time it was just one car in our house of three, and I really don’t come from a wealthy background. We kinda shared one car between all of us ... it was really an issue trying to find a way to get around for everyone’s jobs, so when I got into bug bounty I said, I’m going to get a car that everyone can use and I think it really helped." — @zlz (Sam Curry)

"To be honest, I haven’t really spent any of it. I’m saving it all for college."     
— @cablej (Jack Cable)

Share your #bugbounty story

To mark this occasion, we want to hear your story. Take a 45-second selfie video and tell us how bug bounties have changed your life or enabled you to do something amazing. 

Or tell us about:

• How you used hacking to do good in the world
• How you use your bounties to do good
• Your favorite bug you found and why

Send your video link to us or tag @Hacker0x01 on Instagram and Twitter.  #TogetherWeHitHarder

More exciting celebrations are coming your way in the coming weeks including...

The biggest, baddest CTF ever!

Last, but very much not least, we will be hosting a kickass, bigger than ever before CTF!  Prizes will include invitations to some of the coolest live hacking events yet! 

And the winner? Oh yeah, they get $10,000!

Stay tuned for more, or follow along on Twitter.

Happy hacking!

HackerOne is the #1 hacker-powered security platform, helping organizations find and fix critical vulnerabilities before they can be criminally exploited. As the contemporary alternative to traditional penetration testing, our bug bounty program solutions encompass vulnerability assessment, crowdsourced testing and responsible disclosure management. Discover more about our security testing solutions or Contact Us today.