🔐 Bug Bounty Masterclass — Complete Beginner to Hunter Guide
By Saumadip Mandal | Founder, Brut Security
This is not a generic cybersecurity PDF. This is a structured, hands-on masterclass that takes you from absolute zero to understanding how real bug bounty hunters find, report, and get paid for vulnerabilities on live platforms.
Every concept is explained in plain language. Every terminal command is broken down line by line so you always know exactly what you are running and why.
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WHAT YOU GET (102 pages)
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✅ Chapter 01 — What is Bug Bounty?
The full ecosystem explained: programs, platforms, triage, payout lifecycle, and every term you will encounter as a beginner.
✅ Chapter 02 — Personas & Rules of Engagement
Who you interact with, how severity levels affect your payouts ($50 to $100,000+), and the professional rules that protect your reputation.
✅ Chapter 03 — Terminal Mastery
Every essential command with annotated explanations. Navigation, file operations, piping, tmux sessions — all broken down so beginners can follow along.
✅ Chapter 04 — Web Application Basics
URL anatomy, HTTP methods, status codes, cookies, JWT tokens, frontend vs backend. The mental model that every professional hunter uses.
✅ Chapter 05 — The Vulnerabilities That Matter
IDOR, SSRF, Subdomain Takeover, Exposed Files, Business Logic Flaws, and CVE Gold Rushes — each explained with real examples and how-to-find guidance.
✅ Chapter 06 — Community & Collaboration
Top hunters to follow, best write-up sources, Discord communities, and a real $5,000 collaboration story.
✅ Chapter 07 — Building Your Toolkit
Step-by-step installation of subfinder, httpx, nuclei, ffuf, gau, and Caido — with annotated commands so nothing is guesswork.
✅ Chapter 08 — AI as Your Co-Pilot
Real performance data on AI agents in bug bounty, practical prompts that save hours, and where AI fails so you know when human judgment is essential.
✅ Chapter 09 — Reconnaissance Deep Dive
The full 8-phase recon workflow: passive discovery, DNS resolution, active brute-force, permutations, acquisition hunting, CNAME takeover detection, and port scanning.
✅ Chapter 10 — Hacking with Web Proxies (Caido)
Complete setup guide plus deep explanations of HTTP History, Intercept, Replay, Automate, Param Finder — with real use cases for each feature.
✅ Chapter 11 — Real HackerOne Reports with PoC
9 real publicly disclosed reports from PayPal ($18,900), Dropbox ($17,576), TikTok ($12,000), Uber ($6,000), GitLab ($12,000), HackerOne itself ($20,000), and more — each with numbered reproduction steps, actual HTTP payloads, and the direct HackerOne report link.
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WHO THIS IS FOR
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→ Complete beginners who want a structured starting point
→ CS/IT students who want practical security skills beyond textbooks
→ Developers who want to understand how their applications get hacked
→ Anyone curious about ethical hacking but unsure where to begin
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Saumadip Mandal is the founder of Brut Security, a cybersecurity training and research community. This guide is the written foundation of the Bug Bounty Masterclass — built to give beginners the exact knowledge and tools needed to start hunting on real programs within 30 days.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mandal-saumadip
Telegram: t.me/brutsecurity
Live Training: wa.link/brutsecurity