Manufacturers of products with digital elements should put in place coordinated vulnerability disclosure policies to facilitate the reporting of vulnerabilities by individuals or entities either directly to the manufacturer or indirectly, and where requested anonymously, via CSIRTs designated as coordinators for the purposes of coordinated vulnerability disclosure in accordance with Article 12
of Directive (EU) 2022/2555. Manufacturers’ coordinated vulnerability disclosure policy should specify a structured process through which vulnerabilities are reported to a manufacturer in a manner allowing the manufacturer to diagnose and remedy such vulnerabilities before detailed vulnerability information is disclosed to third parties or to the public. Moreover, manufacturers should also consider publishing their security policies in machine-readable format. Given the fact that information about exploitable vulnerabilities in widely used products with digital elements can be sold at high prices on the black market, manufacturers of such products should be able to use programmes, as part of their coordinated vulnerability disclosure policies, to incentivise the reporting of vulnerabilities by ensuring that individuals or entities receive recognition and compensation for their efforts. This refers to so-called ‘bug bounty programmes’.