We’re proud to announce that the Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic (MMR) is launching its public bug bounty program on July 16, in partnership with Hackrate.
This marks a significant milestone—not only for the Ministry but for the broader European public sector. Government institutions rarely open their systems to ethical hackers, but MMR is taking a bold, forward-thinking step to strengthen its cybersecurity posture through crowdsourced security testing.
Why a Bug Bounty Program?
The Ministry operates a diverse range of IT systems that support critical public services. Recognizing the complexity, they’ve chosen to engage Hackrate’s global community of ethical hackers to identify and report vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them.
This approach ensures a broad spectrum of expertise and attack perspectives, far beyond what traditional security assessments can offer.
How the Bug Bounty Program Works
MMR’s program is unmanaged, meaning their internal security team is directly responsible for triaging and validating the vulnerability reports submitted by ethical hackers. This model gives them full control over the process while benefiting from the scale and diversity of the hacker community.
To incentivize high-quality research, the Ministry has committed to awarding up to €1000 for valid reports submitted during the testing phase - a strong commitment to meaningful collaboration with the ethical hacking community.
A Model for Public Sector Cybersecurity
At Hackrate, we believe that transparency, collaboration, and continuous testing are essential pillars of modern cybersecurity. The Ministry’s decision to go public with their bug bounty program sets a powerful example for other government institutions across Europe.
We’re honored to support this initiative and excited to see the impact of ethical hacking in securing public digital infrastructure.
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