GitHub cuts bug bounty payouts: public rewards drop, VIP tier takes center stage

Colleagues, GitHub is changing its cybersecurity bug bounty program.

From 27 July 2026, public payouts will be cut by at least half across all tiers. For critical findings, the public reward will be $10,000, down from $20,000-$30,000+.

For invited researchers, the VIP tier remains: critical reports still start at $30,000.

GitHub says the goal is to reduce noise, speed up triage, and reward higher-quality reports over volume.

Why it matters: as AI noise grows, validated, reproducible bugs only become more valuable.

Do you think this will improve research quality or make it harder for newcomers?

#cybersecurity #bugbounty #GitHub #DevSecOps