The US Air Force has issued a challenge to hackers to see if they can break into the Air Forces’ key public websites.
As part of a Cyber Security Campaign, vetted security specialists from across the US and selected partner nations have been invited to challenge the security on these platforms. The challenge expands on the DoD ‘Hack the Pentagon’ event by opening participation to ‘white hat’ hackers from the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, looking to exploit new talent, and find any bugs within the system.
“This outside approach–drawing on the talent and expertise of our citizens and partner-nation citizens–in identifying our security vulnerabilities will help bolster our cybersecurity. We already aggressively conduct exercises and ‘red team’ our public facing and critical websites. But this next step throws open the doors and brings additional talent onto our cyber team,” said Air Force Chief of Staff General David Goldfein.
Competition for technical talent is fiercer than ever, with both public and private sector urgently trying to secure the best candidates. Along with big tech companies like Facebook and Google, the Forces face huge competition for the best and brightest in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math fields.
In order to leverage private sector talent, the Air Force partnered with DDS to launch the Air Force Digital Service team in January 2017, affording a creative solution that turns that competition for talent into a partnership.
“We’re mobilising the best talent from across the nation and among partner nations to help strengthen the Air Force’s cyber defences. It’s an exciting venture, one that will make us better, and one that focuses an incredible pool of capabilities toward keeping our Air Force sites secure,” said Acting Secretary Disbrow.
Registration for the ‘Hack the Air Force’ event opens on May 15th on the HackerOne website. The contest opens on May 30th and ends on June 23rd. Military members and government civilians are not eligible for compensation, but can participate on-duty with supervisor approval.
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