Pentagon launches ‘Hack the Army’ program

The Army will announce the launch its first bug bounty program, dubbed “Hack the Army,” at a press conference in Texas Friday evening.  

Bug bounty programs provide rewards for hackers who discover security vulnerabilities that organizations can then fix.  

The Army comes on the heels of the successful “Hack the Pentagon” program at the Department of Defense, which ultimately uncovered 138 bona fide security vulnerabilities that needed to be patched in its brief, 24-day run. 

HackerOne, which provided the infrastructure for the Hack the Pentagon program, will provide the same service for the Army program.  

Hack the Pentagon was limited to a few systems. In late October, the Department of Defense announced a contract with HackerOne and a second firm, Synack, to launch broader programs throughout the Department, the services and contractors. Hack the Army is the first of these.

Details about the Army program have not been announced, other than hackers looking to compete will be vetted before being allowed to participate.