Offense Scales with Compute. Defense Scales with Committees.
Why AI is widening the attacker-defender gap faster than anything we've built to close it — and what that actually means for the next decade of security.
Latest
Bug Bounties in the Age of AI
As AI accelerates the offense-defense asymmetry, bug bounties and vulnerability disclosure remain essential. Casey Ellis on the future of bug bounties, the evolving threat landscape, and how disclose.io and the SRLDF protect the researchers keeping us safe.
Vulnerability economics
* Every vulnerability costs something to put there. * Every vulnerability costs something to discover. * Every vulnerability costs something to fix. * The exploitation of every vulnerability has a value associated with it.
No More Free-ish Bugs
There's a fresh conversation happening about the distinction between bug bounty programs and vulnerability disclosure programs. This is an area where the distinction between a bug bounty program (cash or cash equivalent proactively offered to the public) and a vulnerability disclosure program (which can optionally offer a thank-you
Next things...
Last Saturday Jan 31 was my last day "inside the tent" at Bugcrowd.
Bugcrowd 2013 to 2025 — People and Places
For the Love of the Game: DistrictCon's Year 1 Junkyard
Notes from judging DistrictCon's Junkyard Year 1 — a Pwn2Own-style exploit contest targeting end-of-life devices. Disco balls, DNA sequencers, gym treadmills, and self-propagating game worms. Includes exploit chain diagrams for all eleven talks.
2026 security predictions
2026 cybersecurity forecast: China's PLA centenary looms, AI turns anyone into a malware developer, and economic pressure pushes more people toward cybercrime. Shift-left finally start working—but only for modern code. The rest of the internet? A triage trash fire.
2025 security predictions retrospective
This time of year, everywhere you see, security guys like me are sharing our hot takes for the year ahead. However, reflecting on the past year is equally important. I like to see how my previous predictions held up and how things actually played out.
First Principles: Bad guys are humans, they're creative and driven, and they don't quit.
Here's the bigger question: If we do finally achieve 100% success in automating cyber defense, will the "bad guys" pack their stuff up and go home?
Hacker Summer Camp 2025 — People, Places, and Things
A little photo diary of Hacker Summer Camp 2025.
Founders Helping Founders: When Known Vulnerabilities are Life or Death
On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Casey on the early economics of paying people to hack companies, criminal creativity, and why founders need to fix their known vulnerabilities.
Building
What You Give Away Might Be Worth More Than What You Keep
The sticking point is the word "free". If you do happen to get stuck there (and a lot of things will push you in that direction), a lot of the magic in the decision math gets missed. Everything has a Give and a Get and, if you're doing it right, nothing is ever given away for free.
Building
If a tech solution falls in the forest...
A solution disconnected from it's problem isn't actually solving anything.
Security
What the Netflix ‘Zero Day’ series got right about incident response
That said, the widespread nature of the effects shown in the six-part series are definitely plausible. Industrial control systems and the infrastructure that supports them are riddled with zero-day vulnerabilities, alongside the more common "known, yet unpatched" n-day vulnerabilities.
Security
Bug Bounties, The Wanted Poster For Ethical Hackers — Future Secured Episode 35
Crowdsourced security empowers ethical hackers to protect digital assets, reshaping cybersecurity. Casey Ellis encourages entrepreneurs to lead with resilience, delegate wisely, prioritize health, and embrace innovation amid chaos for lasting impact and scalable success.
Security
The Original Bug Bounty: Alfred Hobbs and the Great Lock Controversy of 1851
Alfred Hobbs: The OG bug bounty hunter who cracked England’s ‘unpick-able’ locks. His breaker mindset exposed flaws, sparked innovation, and proved no system is perfect.
Security
NEBULA:FOG:PRIME – AI x Security Panel Discussion
It was an privilege to participate on this panel at the NEBULA:FOG:PRIME AI x Security Hackathon event on the 25th of January.
Security
A few security predictions for 2025
It's that time of year again... Here are a few trends that I see making their presence felt in 2025 - These are a work in progress, and I might expand on a few of these: 1. Peacetime cyber vs. wartime cyber: 10 years from now, we'
Security
Some thoughts about Typhoons
What's the deal with Volt Typhoon, Salt Typhoon, and Flax Typhoon - and what do we need to do?
Security
You're Soaking In It: Systemic Cyber Struggles
Synopsis In this episode of Resilient Cyber Chris Hughes chats with Cyber industry veterans and long-time leaders Wendy Nather and Casey Ellis about systemic cyber struggles, issues that still plague us over the years, and some of the economic incentives at play (or not) when it comes to cybersecurity. Casey
Personal
Little update: “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated”
It’s been just over three weeks since I randomly “let the Internet know” that I was heading in for unexpected heart surgery...
Policy
Builders and Breakers: Partnering for Secure Elections
In September 2023, the IT-ISAC Elections Industry SIG launched a first-of-its kind pilot program in which election technology providers gave security researchers access to modern voting technology under the principles of Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure.
Security
Bugs on a Plane: Implementing a Bug Bounty in an Airline IT/OT Environment
Bug bounty programs are a valuable tool for security efforts but only if they are correctly applied. This is particularly true for airlines who have to secure both the IT business systems and OT aircraft systems that enable the business to operate safely.