The Pentagon’s first “bug bounty” effort to enlist hackers to identify security vulnerabilities identified 138 legitimate security weaknesses in the Defense Department’s network infrastructure. The “Hack the Pentagon” effort included about 1,400 hackers who searched for network vulnerabilities, with 250 of them finding and submitting at least one vulnerability report, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in announcing the results of the program on Friday. The Pentagon confirmed 138 weaknesses, and remediated them, he said. The Pentagon paid a total of $150,000 to the hackers who found the vulnerabilities. While not a small sum, the amount is a bargain compared to the approximate $1 million the Pentagon would have paid to a contactor to search for vulnerabilities. It is the first time a federal agency held a “bug bounty” program, and the department is creating a “standing point of contact” for researchers to safely submit information on network vulnerabilities, Carter said.
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
