10 Best Bug Bounty Courses And Tutorials For Beginners | 2023
Unlike the past years, when hackers were viewed as people who wore hoods and sat in dark rooms while exploring the internet and doing mysterious things, these notions have changed a lot. Nowadays, some programs help hackers rather than a hacker for their motive, or they can enroll and help different companies be safe by trying to hack into their systems. If a vulnerability is found, they are paid in return.
Note that ethical hacking and white hats have gained popularity, and they have become one of the most lucrative careers you can do. If you are wondering how you can be one, then you are covered in this post because you will learn more about the bug bounty hunting program and which best course you can take so that you can have the right skills and knowledge that will help you to kick start your new career. Keep scrolling down to find more about bug bounty step by step so that you can start making money.
If you’re also looking for tools that can be used for Bug Bounty automation. You can check out this in-depth article on tools that can be used for bug bounty automation.
What Is a Bug Bounty?
A bug bounty is one of the helpful programs that hackers can get paid for when they explore a given system, firmware, or hardware for a given organization and then report the vulnerabilities or loopholes. Nowadays, the program keeps growing as many companies have started using it and allow hackers or ethical hackers from outside their organization staff to try and disclose vulnerabilities if any exist in their subsystem systems.
The black hackers are allowed to explore the system; then, even in the future, if another hacker tries to exploit the system, the chance to find a vulnerability in the system will be hard. Note that the program has grown very fast since even famous organizations and even some governments have started using the program. For this reason, you will find several Bug bounty websites that you can use for testing and start earning. Now let’s look at the bug bounty that you will use as a beginner.
Bug Bounty Tools for Beginners
If you are ready to try bug bounty hunting, you will have to use some of the bug bounty tools that will help you transform from a beginner to a pro bug hunter. There is a list of tools that you, as a beginner, can use depending on your preferences. Some of these tools that will help you in this journey include:
• Practice hacking website
• Google Dorks
• DNS-Discovery
• Reverse IP Lookup
• Wapiti
• INalyzer
• IronWASP
• Wfuzz
• HackBar and many others.
This post will explore the ten best bug bounty courses and tutorials for beginners. With this course and the tutorial, they will be your bug bounty step-by-step tool that will guide you on how your can start, and also, you will also get the necessary knowledge and hands-on skill that will help you start a bug-hunting career.
Note that some of these courses and tutorials can be found on the eLearning platform, while others can be found on the bug bounty website. Now let’s look one by one at these courses.
- The Complete Ethical Hacking Course: Beginner to Advanced!
It is a course that will help you from being a beginner to being an expert in this area. This course can be found on Udemy, developed by an expert ethical hacker. It is one of the best courses on penetrating testing and ethical hacking. If you are looking for a course that will guide you step by step while studying or practicing, this is one of the ideal options because it can help you become an expert in ethical hacking.
Note that this is a complete course that will help you to learn a lot of tools and skills like
• Basics of Linux
• Working with Kali Linux
• Working with Nmap
• Tor
• Proxy
• VPN
• Using
• Virtual Box
• Macchanger
• Wi-Fi hacking
• Dos attacks
• SLL strip
• Vulnerabilities
• SQL injections
• And many other topics
The knowledge and skill you will learn will help you become an ethical hacker, security expert, and bug bounty hunter. You will learn more about exploiting the system, penetrating networks, breaking routers, breaking into a computer, and many more; therefore, you can consider taking this course.
- Website Hacking Course™: Earn Money by doing Bug Bounty
It is another bug bounty website that you can use to start making money using the bug bounty program. It is found on Udemy, and also it is made from scratch; therefore, even beginners can take this course as they advance their hacking skills. This course is about website hacking and bug hunting; therefore, this is a suitable option if you have been looking for a beginner-friendly course in these two areas.
The exciting thing about this website is that it is not designed to simulate the act of testing and to find a vulnerability in a learning environment. Still, it is based on real-life security vulnerabilities. With this course, upon finishing, you will be equipped with the skills that will enable you to do real penetration testing and other tasks on real applications.
Thus if you look for a brief bug bounty course or tutorial for beginners so that you can learn and start earning, then you can use this one.
- Hackerone
It is one of the most know courses or tutorials for beginners. Hackerone is a free course found on Bug bounty websites called Hackerone. The cause is called hacker101, and it is designed so that you will have enough resources that can assist you in learning all the techniques and starting operating on bug bounty programs. The course consists of resources, videos, and a hands-on exercise to assist you in becoming an expert in this area.
Hacker 101 was designed to support the hacker community and is the best learning material to guide you from being a beginner to an intermediate hacker. The lessons are curated to help you get the essential concept of hacking and be able to put what you have learned into practice.
This tutorial has a program or game called capture the flag that will allow you to hack at a different level to detect the bits referred to as flags. Your progress can be evaluated by tracing the flags, and you will receive invites even to private programs once you are equipped with the expected skills. There is no prior knowledge that you are required to have; however, if you have programming skills will be added advantage to you. Therefore knowing programming languages like SQL, Python, and JavaScript, and working with Kali Linux on a virtual box will be an added advantage to you.
- BugBountyHunter
It is one of the best and favorite courses you can take in bug bounty hunting courses. The course was designed and created by a well-known and experienced hacker who makes sure the program is a better option for both experienced and beginner hackers.
With this course, you will be able to learn the skills that will help you test custom-made web applications with vulnerabilities, and it will give you the experience of finding a real bug in an actual application. The program has all the material or resources to learn what is required for bug bounty hunting. The program offers things or guides like
• Starting bug bounty hunting
• Exploring common vulnerabilities
• The tool you must have
• Hunting methodologies
• Security-related content and guides and many others.
The course will offer you a highly derail and complete methodology that you can use to find security vulnerabilities in web applications at different levels.
- Hacksplaining
It is one of the websites that offer the best bug bounty tutorials that can help you learn about web vulnerability. Note that this tutorial is beginner-friendly, and also it is free. With this tutorial, you will be able to learn the concept behind web vulnerability in a fun way; therefore, if you are interested in jumping into bug bounty hunting, this is one of the exciting platforms you can use.
A different exercise will help you learn more by tackling them. With the lesson, you will learn and know the various rules, tactics, and techniques that can help you to find a vulnerability and, at the same time, be able to defend against any attack that you might find.
You will learn through this bug bounty website:
• SQL Injection
• Clickjacking
• Session Fixation
• Cross-Site Scripting
• Weak Session IDs
• Reflected XSS
• Dom-Based XSS
• Cross-Site Request Forgery
• File Upload Vulnerability
• XML Bombs
• Open Directs
• User Enumeration
• Broken Access Control
• Unencrypted Communication
• XML External Entities
• Information Leakage
• Password Mismanagement
• Privilege Escalation
• Command Execution
• Directory Traversal
- Website Hacking / Penetration Testing & Bug Bounty Hunting
It is another beginner-friendly course that you can find on Udemy. It is a course that does not require you to have any prerequisites to take the course. More than 70 000 thousand students have completed the cause, and if you want to jump to penetrating testing and hacking, especially for the bug bounty hunting role, this is a suitable course.
The course takes you through different concepts like:
• Creating a pen-testing lab
• Website basics and used technologies
• Website hacking
• Information gathering
• Discovering vulnerability
• How to fix the vulnerability and much more that you will likely find in bug bounty programs.
- Web Application penetration testing and Bug Bounty Course
Are you looking for a bug bounty course that will help you learn about web application penetration testing? If yes, then this is another course for you on Udemy that will take you through the theoretical and practical of web application penetration testing. Here you will learn about web application security, defending from attacks, finding bugs, and reporting them for a reward.
The course is beginner-friendly, and it aims to produce more security experts that would be able to minimize the incidents of attack. Since almost everything has gone online, there is a need to ensure that the organizational system and program are safe without vulnerability. Once a loophole is found, it can be fixed to make the organization have a more secure system and programs.
Note that you will be able to explore the common vulnerability, how to find them, and how you can fix them with the course. Therefore upon finishing the course, you will be well-equipped to start a bug-hunting program that will give you the platform that will allow you to use your skills in exchange for money.
- Defend the Web
It is an interactive website that will help you learn and challenge the skills you have learned. With the bug bounty tutorial, you will cover different levels of hacking that will help you build up from a beginner to an intermediate ethical hacker. Here you will be able to explore more than 60+ articles that will help you to learn a lot in terms of cyber security. Upon finishing these interactive cyber security tutorials, you will be good to go and start making money with the bug bounty programs.
- Bug Bounty for Beginners
It is a Bug bounty step-by-step course explicitly designed for the beginner. Though it is a beginner course, it has all the essential things you need to have to get started in bug hunting. The course covers web application attacks and how you will use the skills in the bug bounty program to earn money. The course is a practical-based one, and it is very helpful in guiding you through your bug-hunting journey.
Note that it is a beginner course, and no prior skill is required; you will acquire skills like penetrating testing, finding bugs, and reporting them to get your reward.
- Bug Bounty Tutorial: The Right Way to Start Your White Hat Hacking Career
If you are looking to earn more money in a fun way through a bug bounty program, then this bug bounty tutorial will be the best tool that you can use to get started. In this tutorial, you will learn things like:
• Finding bugs
• Becoming a white hacker
• Defending from attackers
• Getting started with a bug bounty program
• Information gathering
• Nmap
• Burp Suite
• Penetration testing and many others.
FAQ
What is the Best bug bounty course on Udemy?
Suppose you are looking for the best bug bounty course, especially on Udemy, then the Complete Ethical Hacking Course: Beginner to Advanced! It is the best option. It goes beyond guiding you from being a beginner to a more advanced expert in the area. You will get the necessary skill that will help you to start earning on the bug bounty programs. The course can help you secure other roles like security expert or ethical hacker.
Which companies have bug bounty programs?
Today almost all big organizations and some of the government use bug bounty programs. Here are some of the reputable company that has bug bounty programs.
1) Intel
2) Yahoo
3) Snapchat
4) Cisco
5) Dropbox
6) Apple
7) Facebook
8) Google
9) Quora
10) Mozilla
Is bug bounty worth it?
Yes. Nowadays, bug bounty program has risen, and the security researcher that participates in them earns a good amount of money.
Is bug bounty illegal?
No bug bounty is not illegal. However, note that if a company has not publicly listed a bug bounty for security experts to participate in, it may be illegal.