Hack DHS Act bug bounty program proposed by US senators

Tech giants including Apple, Tesla, Uber, Microsoft, Facebook and Google have already implemented bug bounty programs, and other organizations seem to be following in their footsteps.

After the Pentagon introduced “Hack the Pentagon” last year, followed by “Hack the Army” and “Hack the Air Force,” it is now the US Department of Homeland Security”s turn to initiate a bug bounty program.

US senators Maggie Hassan (D) and Rob Portman (R) initiated the Hack DHS Act last Thursday. The bug bounty program encourages white hat hackers to search for vulnerabilities, bugs and error codes in the system “including establishing “mission-critical” systems that aren’t allowed to be hacked, and making sure researchers who find bugs in DHS don’t get prosecuted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,” CNN writes.

Hackers involved in bug bounty programs usually receive financial incentives, but details have not been given regarding possible awards or prizes for those taking part in “Hack the DHS.

“Federal agencies like DHS are under assault every day from cyberattacks,” Hassan said. “These attacks threaten the safety, security and privacy of millions of Americans and in order to protect DHS and the American people from these threats, the Department will need help.”

Before the US Senate makes any decisions, the initiative will be analyzed by Homeland Security and the Governmental Affairs Committee.