The Ultimate Bug Bounty Course: From Zero to Advanced Hacker 2

🐛 The Ultimate Bug Bounty Course: From Zero to Advanced Hacker 2 | by Dasiel Ramirez Hernandez - Freedium Milestone: 20GB Reached We’ve reached 20GB of stored data — thank you for helping us grow! Patreon Ko-fi Liberapay Close < Go to the original 🐛 The Ultimate Bug Bounty Course: From Zero to Advanced Hacker 2 Volume 1, Post 2: Methodologies of the Masters Dasiel Ramirez Hernandez Follow ~4 min read · March 24, 2026 (Updated: March 24, 2026) · Free: Yes Volume 1, Post 2: Methodologies of the Masters If you give a beginner a target, they will immediately start throwing random payloads and launching automated scanners, hoping something breaks. If you give a professional hacker a target, they will pause, plan, and systematically deconstruct the application. The difference between a "script kiddie" and a successful Bug Bounty Hunter is not just the tools they use, but the methodology they follow. In this post, we will explore the professional frameworks that guide elite ethical hackers. We will divide these into two categories: Penetration Testing Frameworks (the "How-To" of hacking) and Threat Modeling Frameworks (understanding the attacker's mindset). Part 1: The Hacker's Playbook (Penetration Testing Frameworks) When auditing a system, professionals do not guess; they follow established standards to ensure complete coverage. Here are the four foundational methodologies you must understand: 1. OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) If you want to dedicate yourself to bug bounty or web pentesting, the OWASP guide will be your absolute best friend. OWASP is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving software security, and their methodology is the gold standard for web applications. The OWASP testing framework breaks down into a rigorous process: Application Mapping: Understanding the structure, URLs, forms, cookies, and dynamic elements of the target. Vulnerability Discovery & Manual Assessment: Using both automated tools and intensive manual testing to find business logic flaws, session management errors, and data validation failures. Exploitation & Reporting: Proving the impact of the vulnerability and documenting it concisely. OWASP is also famous for the OWASP Top 10, a regularly updated list of the most critical web security risks, ensuring hackers are always hunting for the most relevant modern vulnerabilities. 2. PTES (Penetration Testing Execution Standard) PTES is a highly standardized methodology designed to guarantee reproducibility and structured testing. It is widely used in the industry and consists of seven distinct phases: Pre-engagement Interactions: Defining the scope and rules. Intelligence Gathering: Using OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) and footprinting to map the target. Threat Modeling: Analyzing the gathered data to design a customized attack plan. Vulnerability Analysis: Identifying weaknesses. Exploitation: Executing the attack. Post-Exploitation: Determining the value of the compromised system and maintaining access. Reporting: Delivering the final results. 3. NIST SP 800–115 Developed by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, this is the go-to standard for government and heavily regulated environments. It takes a structured four-to-six-phase approach: Planning, Information Gathering, Detecting Vulnerabilities, Exploitation, Maintaining Access, and Analysis/Reporting. While incredibly thorough, it is often criticized for focusing heavily on known vulnerabilities rather than novel, unknown attack vectors. 4. OSSTMM (Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual) For highly complex environments, hackers turn to OSSTMM. Unlike other frameworks that only focus on code, OSSTMM takes a holistic approach. It measures security by evaluating physical, human, and telecommunications limitations alongside standard network and application vulnerabilities. (Note: While other frameworks like ISSAF exist, modern hackers tend to avoid them as they have not been updated significantly since 2005 and may lack relevance for today's cloud and microservices technologies). Part 2: Threat Modeling (Thinking Like the Enemy) Finding a bug is only half the battle. To write reports that earn maximum bounties, you must prove impact . To do that, you need to think like a malicious Advanced Persistent Threat (APT). This is where threat modeling comes in. The Cyber Kill Chain Developed by Lockheed Martin, the Cyber Kill Chain adapts military concepts to cybersecurity. It outlines the seven stages an attacker must complete to achieve their objective. If you can break the chain at any point, you stop the attack. The stages are: Reconnaissance: Gathering data to detect weak points. Weaponization: Creating a malicious payload. Delivery: Sending the payload to the victim (e.g., via a malicious link). Exploitation: Executing the code. Installation: Installing malware or a backdoor. Command and Control (C2): Establishing remote control over the compromised system. Actions on Objectives: Stealing data, destroying systems, or demanding ransom. MITRE ATT&CK MITRE ATT&CK stands for Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge . It is a massive, globally accessible matrix based on real-world observations of cyberattacks. It breaks down the hacker's mindset into TTPs : Tactics: The attacker's high-level objective (e.g., Privilege Escalation). Techniques: The method used to achieve the objective (e.g., Bypassing User Account Control). Procedures: The specific, technical implementation of the technique. By framing your bug bounty reports using MITRE ATT&CK terminology, you instantly prove to security engineers that you understand the real-world implications of your finding. The Diamond Model Finally, the Diamond Model is a framework used to comprehensively visualize an intrusion. It maps every attack using four interconnected points: Adversary: The threat actor and their motivations. Infrastructure: The servers, IP addresses, and domains used to launch the attack. Capabilities: The specific tools and TTPs utilized. Victim: The target's assets and vulnerabilities. The Takeaway for Bug Hunters You do not need to memorize every single step of these frameworks to start hunting. However, adopting a PTES-style methodology (Recon -> Threat Modeling -> Exploitation) will prevent you from missing critical bugs. Furthermore, using frameworks like the Cyber Kill Chain and MITRE ATT&CK will elevate your bug reports from "simple technical glitches" to "critical business risks," directly increasing your bounty payouts. In the next post, we will set up our operating system and dive into the Linux and Networking fundamentals that every hacker needs to survive in the wild. #bug-bounty #bug-bounty-tips #web-security #ethical-hacking #beginner Reporting a Problem Sometimes we have problems displaying some Medium posts. If you have a problem that some images aren't loading - try using VPN. Probably you have problem with access to Medium CDN (or fucking Cloudflare's bot detection algorithms are blocking you).