Ethics, Responsible Disclosure, and Legal Considerations
Understand CVD timelines, CFAA legal risk, disclosure best practices, and coordinating with security teams.
The Ethics of Security Research
Ethical security research improves security for everyone. The core principle: only test systems you are authorized to test. Authorization comes from written scope in bug bounty programs, explicit written permission from asset owners, or ownership of the assets.
Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure (CVD)
CVD is the process of privately reporting a vulnerability to the affected vendor, allowing time to develop and release a fix before public disclosure. The 90-day standard (Google Project Zero) balances vendor remediation time with researcher disclosure rights.
All lessons in this course
- Reading Bug Bounty Scopes and Rules
- Writing High-Quality Bug Reports
- Vulnerability Chaining for Higher Impact
- Ethics, Responsible Disclosure, and Legal Considerations