Advancing cybersecurity: Cloudflare implements a new bug bounty VIP program as part of CISA Pledge commitment

As our digital world becomes increasingly more complex, the importance of cybersecurity grows ever more critical. As a result, Cloudflare is proud to promote our commitment to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ‘Secure by Design’ pledge. The commitment is built around seven security goals, aimed at enhancing the safety of our products and delivering the most secure solutions to our customers.

Cloudflare’s commitment to the CISA pledge reflects our dedication to transparency and accountability to our customers, and to cybersecurity best practices. Furthermore, Cloudflare is committed to being a trusted partner by sharing our strategies to ensure the highest priority is placed on safeguarding our customers’ security. 

Cloudflare has successfully managed a public Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP) for years; our belief is that collaboration is the cornerstone of effective cybersecurity. We are excited to announce a major milestone in our journey to meet Goal #5 of the pledge: our program will now include a bug bounty VIP program in conjunction with our bug bounty public program.

Continuous investment in maturing our bug bounty program is a vital tool for the success of any security organization. By encouraging broader participation in vulnerability testing, we open the door to more diverse perspectives and expertise, ultimately leading to stronger, more resilient security measures. Additionally, the new VIP program will allow us greater flexibility in engaging security researchers on upcoming betas for Cloudflare products, and will allow us to award higher bounty payouts.

Our commitment to this effort underscores our belief that a safer Internet is achievable through shared responsibility and proactive engagement. The security team at Cloudflare is looking forward to implementing a more proactive approach to securing our products with the launch of the new bug bounty VIP program!

The new bug bounty VIP program is an exclusive hub for select security researchers who either have the specialized technical expertise in the niche areas Cloudflare is building products in (such as Cloudflare Workers) or have demonstrated a deep understanding of our products and platform by actively participating in the public program with meaningful security findings. As a VIP member, security researchers will have access to beta testing environments for Cloudflare products. This includes early access to our newest features and unannounced products before they go live.

The VIP program’s scope will be carefully modeled from Cloudflare's product release roadmap. Security researchers will have the opportunity to influence Cloudflare’s product and security development before release. VIP program participants also have the option to participate in external/gray box penetration testing activities (Spot Checks) for higher bounties related to security findings for upcoming product releases or critical infrastructure and services. 

We believe that exceptional contributions deserve exceptional rewards. As a result, we’ve restructured our bounty offerings for the VIP program with higher payouts. Recognizing the specialized skills and expertise required, VIP researchers will be eligible for significantly higher rewards. We have also introduced bonus rewards for high-impact findings, particularly those that address critical vulnerabilities in our beta projects through the aforementioned Spot Checks. To further incentivize meaningful contributions, security researchers in our public program will receive milestone bonuses and be invited to our VIP program based on the number and quality of their submissions over time.

The VIP bug bounty program’s focus is not only finding and fixing bugs, but it’s also aimed at fostering a deeper, more impactful relationship with our security researchers. Moreover, these outcomes align well with the CISA Vulnerability Disclosure Policy (VDP) goal. By offering exclusive access to beta software and enhanced rewards, our goals are as follows:

1. Elevate security standards: VIP researchers focusing on the most critical assets allows for further hardening of the overall security posture of Cloudflare’s products and services. 

2. Accelerate product development: Early identification of vulnerabilities allows the remediation of potential issues before they reach production, yielding faster, more secure, and more stable releases.

3. Foster innovation: Involving researchers in the development process creates an additional feedback loop that encourages innovative approaches to security challenges. 

4. Encourage collaboration: The bug bounty team will encourage collaborative blog posts for select reports as a way to disseminate security learnings and build partnerships with researchers.

This is a great professional growth opportunity for anyone in the technical research space as it gives participants the ability to work on cutting-edge technology with complex challenges, and can provide future opportunities for career/skill development.

The launch of the VIP program marks a new chapter in Cloudflare’s security journey. We are excited about the opportunity to partner more closely with our top security researchers to build safer products for customers. Together, we can achieve new heights in security excellence:

1. Stronger security: Security researchers with expertise in niche topics can help enhance Cloudflare's defenses against emerging and novel threats.

2. Proactive risk management: The new VIP program provides Cloudflare an additional avenue to identify and mitigate risks early in the product release cycle, reducing the likelihood of future security incidents.

3. Reinforced trust: Our commitment to security is central to our customer relationships and the trust they place in Cloudflare; by continuously improving our security posture, we seek to preserve that trust.

If you are a software manufacturer, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with CISA’s ‘Secure by Design’ principles and create a plan to implement them in your company.

As an individual, we encourage you to participate in the Cloudflare bug bounty program and promote cybersecurity awareness in your community.

Stay tuned for more updates, and if you’re part of our public program, keep submitting those reports — you might just earn an invitation to join the VIP ranks! You can also find more updates on our blog, as we build our roadmap to meet all seven CISA Secure by Design pledge goals by May 2025!

Let’s help build a better Internet together.