• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechChanging Face of Security

This Popular Porn Site Debuted a Bug Bounty Program on the Same Platform as the Pentagon

Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 10, 2016, 11:02 AM ET
PC Hardware Product Shoots
Portrait of a man sitting in a darkened room with a desktop PC and laptop, photographed for a feature on internet security and hacking, taken on May 10, 2012. (Photo by Gavin Roberts/PC Format Magazine via Getty Images)Gavin Roberts — Getty Images

Pornhub, one of the world’s most popular pornography sites, unveiled a bug bounty program on Tuesday.

The company, owned by Canadian private firm MindGeek, will pay white hat hackers for finding computer bugs on its site and reporting those vulnerabilities to its owners. The site is running the program through the startup HackerOne, a bug bounty software startup that spun out of Facebook (FB) and that operates similar programs for companies such as General Motors (GM), Uber, Twitter (TWTR), Yahoo (YHOO), Dropbox—and even the United States Department of Defense.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

“Like other major tech players have been doing as of late, we’re tapping some of the most talented security researchers as a proactive and precautionary measure—in addition to our dedicated developer and security teams—to ensure not only the security of our site but that of our users, which is paramount to us,” said Corey Price, Pornhub’s vice president, in a statement. The site first ran a private, invite-only beta program to test the concept, which led to about two dozen security fixes, the company said.

The bounties range between $50 and $25,000. In order for hackers to claim the site’s rewards, they must be the first to report a given vulnerability, describe what it is and how it works, include screenshots and a bit of code to substantiate their claims, and disclose the finding with Pornhub—and Pornhub alone, the company specified.

The site’s security team may take up to a month to respond and up to three months to fix a given issue. You can learn more about the rules and qualifications on Pornhub’s HackerOne profile page.

For more on cybersecurity, watch:

Such vulnerability reporting and reward programs are gaining momentum in the tech world, allowing security teams to supplement their internal capabilities with outside help.

HackerOne, which competes with bug bounty startups like Bugcrowd and Synack, also runs programs for Square (SQ), Adobe (ADBE), Slack, Snapchat, and Zendesk (ZEN), among others. Tech giants like Google (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT) have sponsored bug bounty programs of their own for several years. Apple (AAPL) and Oracle (ORCL), notably, have not.

Pornhub has 60 million daily visitors, making it the second most popular adult entertainment site in the world, as last ranked by the Amazon-owned (AMZN) Internet analytics firm Alexa. The site has been targeted by hackers before, including a malicious advertising scheme in the fall of last year.

About the Author
Robert Hackett
By Robert Hackett
Instagram iconLinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

outage
North Americasmartphones and mobile devices
If your phone is on SOS (and you can see this), yes, Verizon is having a major outage across the U.S.
By The Associated PressJanuary 14, 2026
11 hours ago
AIHiring
McKinsey challenges graduates to master AI tools as it shifts hiring hunt toward liberal arts majors
By Jake AngeloJanuary 14, 2026
14 hours ago
NewslettersCIO Intelligence
How Expedia’s CTO is using AI to transform work for 17,000 employees—and travel for millions
By John KellJanuary 14, 2026
15 hours ago
thiel
Personal FinanceTaxes
Peter Thiel makes his biggest donation in years to help defeat California’s billionaire wealth tax
By Nick LichtenbergJanuary 14, 2026
15 hours ago
Jensen Huang
SuccessProductivity
The job market is broken, but Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is ‘fairly confident’ that AI will increase productivity and therefore, hiring—but there’s a catch
By Preston ForeJanuary 14, 2026
16 hours ago
Illustration of Google logo and Gemini open on a smartphone.
AIGoogle
Google connects Gemini to users’ emails and photos in push to build a personal assistant
By Beatrice NolanJanuary 14, 2026
17 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Peter Thiel makes his biggest donation in years to help defeat California’s billionaire wealth tax
By Nick LichtenbergJanuary 14, 2026
15 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Despite his $2.6 billion net worth, MrBeast says he’s having to borrow cash and doesn’t even have enough money in his bank account to buy McDonald’s
By Emma BurleighJanuary 13, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
AI
'Godfather of AI' says the technology will create massive unemployment and send profits soaring — 'that is the capitalist system'
By Jason MaJanuary 12, 2026
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
AI
Being mean to ChatGPT can boost its accuracy, but scientists warn you may regret it
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJanuary 13, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Future of Work
'Microshifting,' an extreme form of hybrid working that breaks work into short, non-continuous blocks, is on the rise
By Nick LichtenbergJanuary 13, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Goldman Sachs top economist says Powell probe won’t change the Fed: 'Decisions are going to be made based on employment and inflation'
By Sasha RogelbergJanuary 12, 2026
3 days ago

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.