Hacking Policy Council launches to advocate for laws that protect security researchers' work; founding members include HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Google, and Intel
“There are advocacy groups for reptile owners but not hackers, so that seems like a miss,” said Ilona Cohen of HackerOne.
CyberScoopTonya Riley
Context & Ripple Effects
The council formalizes an advocacy role for a security-research ecosystem that has long been organized around platforms and bug bounties, including HackerOne’s model for routing vulnerability reports to companies through paid vulnerability disclosure programs.
HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Google, and Intel gain a shared vehicle to press for policy treatment that distinguishes authorized security research from harmful intrusion.
Security researchers gain an industry-backed advocate focused specifically on the legal conditions under which they can find and report flaws.
Second-order effects
Bug-bounty platforms and participating companies can align their disclosure practices with the council’s policy agenda, making legal protections a more visible part of researcher engagement.
The group gives policymakers a consolidated private-sector counterpart, potentially concentrating the views of major platforms and technology firms in debates over security-research rules.
Third-order effects
If it sustains participation, the council could strengthen a security-to-policy pipeline in which vulnerability discovery, disclosure processes, and legal protections are treated as connected parts of cyber defense.
The effort points toward further institutionalization of independent security research; its impact will depend on whether advocacy translates into rules that researchers and organizations can rely on consistently.
The trend: Cybersecurity is moving from ad hoc researcher communities and platform-led bug bounties toward formal policy representation for the people who surface vulnerabilities.
“Security research is the Internet's immune system in a lot of ways and what this council is trying to do is fix the Internet's autoimmune problem.” @caseyjohnellis @Bugcrowd Tech Companies Unveil Hacking Policy Council, Legal Defense Fund for Researchers https://duo.com/...
Security can feel like an endless cycle of finding and patching vulnerabilities. Breaking free of that cycle will take more than incremental improvements. The Security Research Legal Defense Fund, Hacking Policy Council, and our new commitments for the ecosystem can help. https:/…
The Center For #Cybersecurity Policy And Law @CyberSecCenter has launched The Hacking Policy Council appointing #Bugcrowd as a founding member with our own, @caseyjohnellis, sitting on the Advisory Committee. A round of applause? Don't mind if we do. 👏 https://www.centerforcybers…
The Center is excited to announce our newest initiative - the Hacking Policy Council. Good-faith hackers need a voice in policy circles and deserve to be represented and protected. Hat tip to our founding members @Google @LutaSecurity @Bugcrowd @Hacker0x01 @intel @intigriti https…
This council has a role in addressing the antiquated laws and regulations in this area. We are excited to advocate and lobby on behalf of security researchers. @k8em0 @LutaSecurity #HackingPolicyCouncil https://twitter.com/...
@Intel is honored to be a founding member of @CyberSecCenter's The Hacking Policy Council with our own, @AmitElazari, joining the Advisory Committee and founding members, @Google @LutaSecurity @Bugcrowd @Hacker0x01 @intigriti supporting. Learn more: https://www.centerforcybersecu…
The Hacking Policy Council launched today will advocate on behalf of researchers to legally protect their work, reports @TonyaJoRiely. The council's founding members include @Bugcrowd, @Google, @intel @intigriti and @LutaSecurity. https://scoopmedia.co/3GJ6KgO
HackerOne is nothing without hackers. That's why we're joining forces with the @CyberSecCenter to create the Hacking Policy Council. We will devote our advocacy efforts to supporting the hacker community and pushing for better policies. Read more here: https://www.hackerone.com/.…