As COVID-19 cases surge, Bugcrowd is moving to unburden executive agencies across Australia and New Zealand by providing them with free, fully managed Vulnerability Disclosure Programs for 90 days beginning July 15.

During this uncertain time, it is critical that government agencies are empowered to deliver the support services their citizens and businesses rely on without delay. Leveraging lessons learned from having supported U.S. emergency teams, hospitals, and enterprise organizations at the height of the pandemic, Bugcrowd is uniquely equipped to aid digital businesses in their response to the unfolding health crisis in Australia. 

Over the last year,  government agencies like Service NSW have had to adapt their operations to accommodate remote working conditions while also transforming their services to extensively distribute the latest tools and resources related to COVID-19. Vulnerability Disclosure Programs are critical for these organizations to navigate their expanding attack surface, and for transparency to drive customer confidence; however, the time needed to accept, prioritize, and respond to evolving vulnerabilities is becoming unmanageable for even the most experienced critical service providers.

Today, Bugcrowd is minimizing overhead costs for agencies like Service NSW by managing their Vulnerability Disclosure Programs to enhance the resilience of their online assistance by facilitating meaningful collaboration between their security teams and the public. This enables agencies to augment their internal security initiatives with highly targeted expertise from a global community of ethical hackers, while also helping to establish a “Neighbourhood Watch” approach by receiving security feedback from external parties.  

Cybersecurity is a public good that is strongest when the community is given the ability to contribute. By integrating Vulnerability Disclosure Programs into existing risk management activities, government agencies like Service NSW have access to in-demand cybersecurity expertise—on demand—to weigh and address evolving concerns, while also preserving the integrity of the information the public has entrusted to them. This ongoing, defense-in-depth approach continues to increase confidence and assures residents that their local governments are doing everything they can to protect their personal information and the community’s unprecedented reliance on utilities provided by essential agencies like Service NSW.

“As the local government agencies continue to help fight the Delta Variant, we too can play our part,” said Nick McKenzie, CI&SO for Bugcrowd. “By helping all Australian and New Zealand government agencies leverage the Crowd to encourage and facilitate the secure reporting of vulnerabilities, we support their mission of safeguarding the community and the digitally connected world.“

To get more information on Bugcrowd’s COVID-19 Response Package for Australian and New Zealand government agencies.