Source URL: https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/identity-security/google-cloud-launches-new-vulnerability-rewards-program/
Source: Cloud Blog
Title: Introducing Google Cloud’s new Vulnerability Reward Program
Feedly Summary: Vulnerability reward programs play a vital role in driving security forward. By incentivizing security research, vulnerabilities can be found and fixed by vendors before they are potentially exploited by malicious actors, protecting users and strengthening security posture. Also known as bug bounties, Google has long been a leader in supporting them, and they are now an integral part of the security landscape.
As part of our commitment to security, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Google Cloud Vulnerability Reward Program (VRP), dedicated to products and services that are part of Google Cloud. The Google Cloud VRP will continue to focus on coordinating new vulnerabilities and compensating security researchers for helping us in our mission, and offers a top award of $101,010.
Delivering the most secure cloud
While the broader Google VRP has covered Google Cloud until now, the launch of the Google Cloud-specific VRP enables us to invest more deeply to pursue a more secure cloud. With this launch, we are better aligning our rewards with our top cloud products, resulting in over 150 products coming under the top two reward tiers.
Additionally, vulnerability researchers will now be directly interacting with our Google Cloud security engineers. Their interactions will enable us to more quickly triage, reproduce, and assess the impact of security research reports. While the new Google Cloud VRP offers an improved reward structure focused on Google Cloud, researchers will still receive the same high quality engagement, transparency, and communication that they have come to expect from the Google VRP.
How to submit a vulnerability to Google Cloud
To streamline vulnerability reporting, researchers should continue to use the same reporting portal that they use for the Google, Chrome, Android, and Abuse VRPs.
To tell us about a vulnerability, please follow these guidelines:
From the portal, start a report for any Google Cloud product or service.
Under Bug Location, select Cloud VRP.
Follow our guidance to make it easy for us to quickly reproduce the bug. The easier it is for us to reproduce the attack by following your description, the more streamlined communications will be with our team.
Be as detailed as possible regarding the attack scenario. Make sure to outline who would want to exploit a particular vulnerability and what they may gain. As you explain these attack scenarios, you’ll want to think about the starting position of the attacker and any prerequisites for the attack. It’s also best to articulate assumptions about the victim.
Helping us to quickly reproduce a vulnerability, and understand the attack scenario, can make it easier for us to accurately assess the impact of the vulnerability — and fix the issue quickly. While finding coding flaws is fun, we also want to see our bug hunting community become successful, and that means clearly articulating complex real-world attack scenarios.
VRPs have become such an important part of a robust, mature security program that they can even help organizations achieve their digital transformations. The Google Cloud VRP team and our security engineers look forward to partnering with all of our researchers to help collectively secure the cloud.
AI Summary and Description: Yes
Summary: The text discusses Google’s launch of a dedicated Vulnerability Reward Program (VRP) for Google Cloud, aimed at improving cloud security by incentivizing researchers to identify and report vulnerabilities. It emphasizes the importance of close collaboration between researchers and Google Cloud security engineers to enhance the security posture of cloud services.
Detailed Description:
The announcement highlights several significant aspects regarding the new Google Cloud Vulnerability Reward Program (VRP) and its role in enhancing cloud security:
– **Purpose of the VRP**: The Google Cloud VRP aims to identify vulnerabilities in cloud products and services before malicious actors can exploit them. By incentivizing security researchers, Google intends to protect users and strengthen its overall security framework.
– **Integration of Bug Bounty Programs**: The text notes that bug bounty programs, like Google’s VRP, are becoming increasingly integral to the security landscape. By rewarding security researchers for discovering vulnerabilities, organizations can proactively address security issues.
– **Alignment with Cloud Products**: With the launch of the Google Cloud-specific VRP, the rewards will be more closely aligned with the top cloud products. This targeted approach covers over 150 products under the two highest reward tiers, thus promoting focused security enhancements.
– **Collaboration with Researchers**: A key feature of the Google Cloud VRP is the expected direct interaction between vulnerability researchers and Google Cloud security engineers. This collaboration is designed to speed up the triage process, allowing for faster assessment and resolution of reported vulnerabilities.
– **Streamlined Reporting Process**: The text outlines the procedure for submitting vulnerabilities, encouraging researchers to use a centralized reporting portal. It emphasizes the need for clear, detailed descriptions to enable effective reproduction and assessment of vulnerabilities.
– **Encouragement for Community Engagement**: Google aims to foster a successful bug-hunting community by encouraging thorough reporting of complex real-world attack scenarios. This not only helps assess the impact of vulnerabilities but also contributes to a broader understanding of security challenges.
– **Impact on Digital Transformations**: The text suggests that effective VRPs can support organizations in their digital transformations, showcasing how proactive security measures can facilitate overall business growth and innovation.
In conclusion, the Google Cloud VRP represents a significant investment in cloud security, demonstrating the company’s commitment to protecting its infrastructure and users by collaborating closely with the cybersecurity community. By offering substantial rewards and fostering an environment of engagement, Google aims to enhance the robustness of its cloud services.