The Department of Defense (DoD) Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) Directorate for Digital Services (DDS) has launched a website targeting DoD systems and assets protection.
The site was developed in conjunction with the Hack the Pentagon (HtP) program, which invites vetted, independent security researchers known as ethical hackers to discover, investigate and report vulnerabilities the DoD can then address.
“With the HtP website launch, CDAO is scaling a long-running program, which historically offered services on a project-by-project basis, by offering the Department better access to lessons learned and best practices for hosting bug bounties,” CDAO Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Craig Martell said. “The website helps equip DoD to run continuous bug bounties as part of a larger comprehensive cybersecurity strategy.”
In addition to serving primarily as an educational tool for DoD organizations before launching a bug bounty, the website is a platform to engage and recruit technical talent.
“Through Hack the Pentagon, we’re building a global talent pipeline for cybersecurity experts to contribute to our national defense outside of traditional government career paths,” Acting CDAO DDS Director Jinyoung Englund said.
Since HtP’s initial launch seven years ago, DDS has run over 40 bug bounties with over 1,400 ethical hackers who have collectively flagged more than 2,100 vulnerabilities for remediation.