Bug hunters' salaries: Valve payouts reach $230,000

Security researchers participating in bug bounty programs can earn more than $16 million a year. A striking example is a researcher who received a payout of $230,000 from Valve at the end of 2026.

Valve uses a special program to reward specialists who discover bugs and vulnerabilities in its products. In just the last seven days, this researcher received a payment of $20,000. These funds are an official reward for the technical issues he found.