Roadmap for Bug Bounty Hunters & Penetration Testers :

This article is for people who want to start their career in bug bounty and penetration testing. There is a lot of information available on the internet, but if you are reading this article, then I believe you want to know how to get started and make progress in the field.

If you have decided to learn bug bounty hunting, read this article carefully and follow these steps consistently.

1. Networking + Linux Basics

Many beginners directly jump into tools such as Burp Suite, Nmap, Wireshark, OpenVas, etc. Tools are really important but if you don't understand how these tools are works behind the scenes you are basically a script kiddie, so you should first learn the fundamentals manually and then move on to using tools. it becomes difficult to understand why a vulnerability exists.

For bug bounty and penetration testing, I recommend starting with two major areas:

I. Networking fundamentals

You don't need to become a network engineer, but you should understand how computers communicate with each other. for a bug hunter, networking knowledge helps you understand how website communicate between the client and server.

• IP addresses
• Ports
• DNS
• HTTP/HTTPS
• Routing
• Firewalls

II. Linux fundamentals

Linux is an operating system, just like Windows and macOS. In cybersecurity, Linux systems is popular because many security tools are designed to run on Linux System. It is heavily based on the command-line interface (CLI), where users execute commands through a shell. Linux uses a hierarchical filesystem. It starts from the root directory (/), and all the other directories exist under it. This hierarchical filesystem is a core concept in Linux.

2. Web Application Basics

If you learn about networking and linux fundamentals you should learn how a web application works. A web application is basically a software application that you can access through a web browser.

The two most important terms are client and server. The client is usually your browser or mobile application. For example: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc. When you open a website, your browser sends a request to the server and the server receives the request, processes it, and sends a response back.

3. Recon & Enumeration

Reconnaissance is one of the most important phases of bug bounty hunting and penetration testing. Before testing vulnerabilities, you first need to collect information about your target and understand its attack surface.

Recon can be divided into two main categories:

I. Passive Reconnaissance

Passive recon means gathering publicly available information about a target domain without sending requests or scans directly to the target.

You can look for information such as:

• Subdomains
• IP addresses and ranges
• DNS records
• Technologies and frameworks
• Publicly exposed files
• Certificate information
• Public repositories
• Cloud assets
• Email addresses and public information

II. Active Reconnaissance

Active recon means sending requests or performing checks against a target to learn more about its services, technologies, and attack surface.

Common areas to explore include:

• Port and service enumeration
• Subdomain enumeration
• Directory and file discovery
• HTTP endpoint discovery
• Technology fingerprinting
• DNS enumeration
• Virtual host discovery

4. Web Vulnerability

Once you understand Linux, networking, recon, and enumeration, you can start learning about web vulnerabilities. A web vulnerability is a security weakness in a web application that can be exploited to perform an action the application was not intended to allow. At this stage, you should learn the OWASP TOP 10. OWASP stands for Open Worldwide Application Security Project. It is the list of top 10 important vulnerabilities guided by developers and security professionals. It is important for bug bounty because when you test the web application you should focus on these major security areas.

5. API Security

API (Application Programming Interface) Security is the practice of protecting APIs from data exposure, unauthorized access, and misuse. For a bug bounty hunter, API security involves understanding how an API works and checking whether users can access and perform actions beyond their permissions. Modern web applications depend heavily on APIs. A frontend application may look simple, but behind the scenes it can communicate with many API endpoints to retrieve data, authenticate users, update profiles, process payments, or perform other actions. For a bug bounty hunter, understanding API security is therefore extremely important.

6. Android Bug Hunting

Android bug hunting is the process of analyzing an Android application and finding security weaknesses that could affect the app, its users, or its backend. Testing an Android app involves more than just looking at the APK. you generally need to understand the Apk, Android OS behavior, and the app's backend APIs.

7. Practice on Labs

After learning the basics of web security and Android security, the next step is hands-on practice. Reading about vulnerabilities is not enough. You need to practice finding and understanding them in a safe environment. Security labs are intentionally vulnerable applications designed for learning and practicing cybersecurity concepts. They allow beginners to understand how vulnerabilities work without targeting real users or systems.

There are several platforms for practicing web security :

1. PortSwigger Web Security Academy
2. OWASP Juice Shop
3. OWASP MAS Crackmes / UnCrackable Apps
4. InsecureBankv2
5. DIVA (Damn Insecure and Vulnerable App)