Hackers find security gaps in Pentagon websites

WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Ash Carter says high-tech hackers brought in by the Pentagon to breach Defense Department websites were able to burrow in and find 138 different security gaps.

The so-called white-hat hackers were turned loose on five public Pentagon internet pages and were offered various bounties if they could find unique vulnerabilities. The Pentagon says 1,410 hackers participated in the challenge and the first gap was identified just 13 minutes after the hunt began.

Overall, they found 1,189 vulnerabilities, but a review by the Pentagon determined that only 138 were valid and unique.

The experiment cost $150,000. Of that, about half was paid out to the hackers as bounties, including one who received the maximum prize of $15,000. A number of others received $100.