hackers | The Contracting Education Academy

November 29, 2016 By AMK

SecDef announces program for hackers to disclose DoD web vulnerabilities

Defense Secretary Ash Carter last week launched a process for ethical hackers to alert the Pentagon about any vulnerabilities they discover on Defense Department websites.

hack-the-pentagon-2 The vulnerabilities disclosure program comes out the same day DoD launches its Hack the Army bug bounty program, which offers cash prizes for vulnerabilities hackers find in a select group of high-value websites.

The goal of both programs is to provide a clear process for internet security researchers to disclose dangerous vulnerabilities to the Pentagon without fearing they’ll be sued for violating the sites’ copyright protections or laws such as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

“We want to engage with those researchers so we can fix those bugs before the bad guys have a chance to find them,” Charley Snyder, senior DOD cyber policy adviser, said during a media briefing.

Both programs are being managed in cooperation with the bug bounty organizer HackerOne. Hack the Army is the first of several bug bounty programs DOD plans to launch, Snyder said.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/security/2016/11/carter-announces-program-hackers-disclose-dod-web-vulnerabilities/133305

March 4, 2016 By AMK

‘Hack the Pentagon’: Will DoD’s bug bounty program attract top talent?

Challenged by hackers and staffing shortages, the Pentagon is inviting plainclothes techies to a competition where they can poke around military code for security bugs.

The idea is to find and fix vulnerabilities unknowingly inserted in software before the bad guys do.

The contest draws inspiration from “bug bounty” programs in the private sector open to hobbyists and professional penetration testers. Microsoft, for instance, offers a reward of up to $100,000 for attacking its software. General Motors earlier this year launched a car-hacking program that seeks glitch reports but doesn’t yet pay for them.

The military’s new “Hack the Pentagon” program, unveiled Wednesday, potentially could offer cash prizes, according to a Defense Department announcement. Perhaps some of those bucks could come from the nearly $7 billion Pentagon Secretary Ash Carter expects to spend on cybersecurity in 2017.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2016/03/pentagon-launches-open-contest-hack-military-websites/126383/

August 8, 2014 By AMK

DHS contractor suffers major computer breach, officials say

A major U.S. contractor that conducts background checks for the Department of Homeland Security has suffered a computer breach that probably resulted in the theft of employees’ personal information, officials said Wednesday.

The company, USIS, said in a statement that the intrusion “has all the markings of a state-sponsored attack.”

The breach, discovered recently, prompted DHS to suspend all work with USIS as the FBI launches an investigation. It is unclear how many employees were affected, but officials said they believe the breach did not affect employees outside the department. Still, the Office of Personnel Management has also suspended work with the company “out of an abundance of caution,” a senior administration official said.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/dhs-contractor-suffers-major-computer-breach-officials-say/2014/08/06/8ed131b4-1d89-11e4-ae54-0cfe1f974f8a_story.html

Defense Secretary Ash Carter last week launched a process for ethical hackers to alert the Pentagon about any vulnerabilities they discover on Defense Department websites.

Challenged by hackers and staffing shortages, the Pentagon is inviting plainclothes techies to a competition where they can poke around military code for security bugs.

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