With Valentine's Day approaching, the author reflects on the "unlikely romance" between hackers and security teams, challenging common stereotypes that hackers are faceless cybercriminals. Instead, they describe hackers as experts in programming and problem-solving who work to protect organizations from threats. The author argues that partnering with hackers can help CISOs and security leaders address challenges such as the cybersecurity skills gap and evolving attack surfaces. By leveraging crowdsourced security models, CISOs can extend their team's reach, identify vulnerabilities earlier, and decrease operational risk. To build successful relationships with hackers, CISOs must find quality over quantity, invest in triage capabilities, and foster goodwill through responsive communication and program rewards. Crowdsourced security platforms like Bugcrowd can facilitate these partnerships, enabling CISOs to partner with the hacker community as an extension of their team.