GitHub spotlights VIP bug bounty researcher and explains its shift toward higher rewards for higher-impact reports

GitHub says it restructured its Bug Bounty Program to reward quality over volume, with an invite-only VIP tier offering higher payouts of up to $30,000 or more for critical findings, faster responses, and early beta previews. In an interview, VIP researcher @vaib25vicky says they prioritize complex features, often focus on authorization and access control issues, and use AI as a productivity aid while verifying findings manually.

For security teams running bounty programs, GitHub’s criteria and VIP benefits show a practical way to steer researchers toward high-impact work rather than report volume. The trade-off is that invite-only access and early beta previews may concentrate attention among proven researchers, but the article does not say how many researchers qualify or how GitHub measures quality beyond resolved finding counts.