> When not at the computer, he spends time with his family, or, more accurately, when he is not spending time with his family, he tries to do some bug hunting.
I'm hoping that's hyperbole, but even if it is, the notion sickens me. I really hate the normalization of this idea that anyone who works in this field spends their 100% of their leisure time there as well. Get in shape. Make art and music. Build things. Be more than your job. Especially if you have a family. What kind of 1-dimensional example do you want to set for your children?
It's you who misunderstands. He means that the time he doesn't spend with his family is dedicated to work (his fulltime job and the bug hunting) and that this 1-dimensionality doesn't set a good example.
Bug bounties are rather pathetic. As you stated it's doing grunt work for corporations that pay 10-100x less than the exploit would fetch on the market.
I can only assume these capitalize on fame because it can lead to jobs in the industry. If it WAS about the money, and (not that I encourage it) your moral compass is sufficiently adjusted, there is far more money to be made selling the exploits for bitcoin elsewhere.
Companies are saving an absolute metric boatload of money by having people work as red team for free, and only paying a pittance to solve most bugs (with some exceptions).
Alternatively, the people who score big bounties become extremely skilled very quickly. That often translates to 300-400k salaries a few years down the line.
