The Pentagon is taking a lesson from Google, offering a bounty for people to hack them. Not everyone can apply for the program, but for those who do and find a vulnerability, there’s $150,000 in cash prizes available.
According to NBC News, the contest will start on April 18, 2016, and run through May 12. “Hack the Pentagon” provides a legal avenue for selected people to find vulnerabilities in the Defense Department’s computer systems, some of their computer systems. The company HackerOne will create the platform for the program. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced it will bolster their defense.
“This initiative will put the department’s cybersecurity to the test in an innovative but responsible way. I encourage hackers who want to bolster our digital defenses to join the competition and take their best shot.”
Reuters reported that the Pentagon has had internal investigators, known as “red teams,” to hack the systems, looking for vulnerabilities. But, offering bounties to external hackers has become a best practice in the cybersecurity industry.
Google and Facebook have long had similar programs for people to report vulnerabilities for cash rewards. Uber, the ride-share app, recently started it’s own contest for hackers to win up to $10,000.
With the Hack the Pentagon program, there are some limitations, of course. Potential participants have to go through a thorough background check. They must be a “U.S. person” and, according to a Pentagon release, “must not be on the U.S. Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals list of people and organizations engaged in terrorism, drug trafficking and other crimes.” For the full article click here
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