The Truth About Bug Bounties & Cyber Risks

Grant McCracken joins Jocelyn King on this episode of Smarter Online Safety to demystify bug bounties, penetration testing, AI security and the human mistakes that fuel most breaches. If you want practical, non-technical advice for protecting your business (or the businesses you rely on), this is the episode to watch. What we cover: 1. What a bug bounty is and why it works (even for small teams) 2. How bug bounties compare to pen tests and why crowdsourced testing scales better 3. Why over 60% of breaches start with human error — and what to do about it 4. Credential stuffing, MFA, phishing and the human layer of risk 5. Risks and realities of AI-generated code (and “vibe coding”) 6. Practical steps small businesses can take today Key takeaways: 1. Invite ethical hackers — it’s often cheaper and more effective than you think. 2. Protect the human layer: phishing training + MFA = huge risk reduction. 3. AI helps speed development — but don’t skip security checks. Prompting alone isn’t a silver bullet. 4.Small businesses should adopt basic frameworks, vendor controls, and vulnerability disclosure practices. 👉 Subscribe to Smarter Online Safety for short, practical episodes about protecting yourself and those you care about online. 🔔 Like, comment your biggest cybersecurity question, and share this with a small business owner you care about. Connect with Grant McCracken: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantmccracken  Visit: smarteronlinesafety.com for show notes and resources. #Cybersecurity #BugBounty #AIsecurity #CyberAwareness #Infosec