Episode 159: In this episode of Critical Thinking - Bug Bounty Podcast we sit down with the Google Cloud VRP Team to deep-dive policy and reward changes, what the panel process looks like, and how to best configure for success.
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Today’s Guests:
Darby Hopkins
https://www.linkedin.com/in/darbyhopkins/
Michael Cote
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelpatrickcote/
====== This Week in Bug Bounty ======
AI Red Teaming Explained by AI Red Teamers
https://www.hackerone.com/blog/ai-red-teaming-explained-by-red-teamers
Good Faith AI Research Safe Harbor
https://www.hackerone.com/press-release/hackerone-sets-standard-ai-era-testing-good-faith-ai-research-safe-harbor
Join the Adobe LHE at NULLCON GOA
https://nullcon.net/goa-2026
====== Resources ======
‘Legendary Guy’ - Jakub Domeracki
https://x.com/GoogleVRP/status/2013660670076555418
Google Cloud VRP rewards rules
https://bughunters.google.com/about/rules/google-friends/cloud-vulnerability-reward-program-rules#reward-amounts
Google Cloud VRP product tiers
https://github.com/google/bughunters/blob/main/cloud-tiers/cloud-tiers.text
Bug Hunters blog on the 2025 Google Cloud VRP bugSWAT
https://bughunters.google.com/blog/hardening-google-cloud-insights-from-the-latest-cloud-vrp-bugswat
Google VRP Discord
https://discord.com/invite/bzA9gc6Z
Google VRP on X
https://x.com/GoogleVRP
====== Timestamps ======
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:10:03) CloudVRP Bugswat Event Breakdown
(00:16:40) VRP Policy & Rewards Changes
(00:04:50) Panel Process
(01:00:08) Configuring for Success & Avoiding Downgrades
(01:33:47) Scenarios for Success
