As Hardware, API And Network Vulnerabilities Rise, Defenders Rethink Strategies
Security Boulevard, Tuesday, September 30th, 2025
Hardware, API and network vulnerabilities have soared in the last year, according to new research by Bugcrowd. And not surprisingly, AI-assisted software development has been both a blessing and a curse - speeding up innovation while at the same time expanding the attack surface.
Bugcrowd's analysis of data gleaned from global bug bounty and disclosure programs showed an 88% increase in hardware vulnerabilities as the number of IoT devices rose. Four out of five security researchers (81%) uncovered new hardware flaws during the year, while network vulnerabilities doubled and the number of API bugs rose by 10%.
Critical vulnerabilities continued to be worrisome - and Bugcrowd noted a 32% rise in payouts for these flaws.
Broken access control topped the categories of vulnerabilities, with a 36% increase noted during the year.