The Department of Defense is inviting vetted hackers to throw everything they've got at the Pentagon's public webpages, according to a Wednesday statement from the department. The initiative, called "Hack the Pentagon," is the first program of its kind in the history of the federal government.
"Under the pilot program, the department will use commercial sector crowdsourcing to allow qualified participants to conduct vulnerability identification and analysis on the department's public webpages," the statement reads. "The bug bounty program is modeled after similar competitions conducted by some of the nation's biggest companies to improve the security and delivery of networks, products and digital services. The pilot marks the first in a series of programs designed to test and find vulnerabilities in the department's applications, websites, and networks."
In November 2015, the DOD launched its Defense Digital Service, which includes a team of data experts and engineers working to improve the technological capabilities and resilience of the department. The new hacking initiative is part of the Obama administration's Cyber National Action Plan, which outlines a long-term strategy for enhancing cybersecurity for the government.