  Bug bounty programs, where external agents are invited to search and report
vulnerabilities (bugs) in exchange for rewards (bounty), have become a major
tool for companies to improve their systems. We suggest augmenting such
programs by inserting artificial bugs to increase the incentives to search for
real (organic) bugs. Using a model of crowdsearch, we identify the efficiency
gains by artificial bugs, and we show that for this, it is sufficient to insert
only one artificial bug. Artificial bugs are particularly beneficial, for
instance, if the designer places high valuations on finding organic bugs or if
the budget for bounty is not sufficiently high. We discuss how to implement
artificial bugs and outline their further benefits.
