Pentagon launches new website for bug bounty programs

A new website called Hack the Pentagon has been launched by the U.S. Department of Defense's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office Directorate for Digital Services to help organizations within the Pentagon to roll out bug bounty programs and hire security researchers, reports SecurityWeek. The website was designed as a companion for the DoD's similarly named bug bounty program launched in 2016, which led to the reporting of more than 2,100 vulnerabilities in the DoD's systems by over 1,600 white-hat hackers, allowing them to earn more than $650,000 in bounty payments. DDS built the HtP website as a resource for Department of Defense organizations, vendors, and security researchers to learn how to conduct a bug bounty, partner with the CDAO DDS team to support bug bounties, and participate in DoD-wide bug bounties, the department said. The new website will allow the Pentagon to run continuous programs, providing access to best practices and lessons learned.