The US Department of Defense (DOD) announced yesterday plans to continue a pilot program called “Hack the Pentagon,” which it ran this spring and allowed external security researchers to probe DOD infrastructure for security flaws.
The program, which was handled via the HackerOne bug bounty platform, was a tremendous success and helped the DOD fix 138 security flaws, while researchers earned $150,000 for their work.
In June, when the initial pilot program concluded, the DoD DDS (Defense Digital Service) announced plans to launch three more bug bounty programs.
In an announcement published today, DOD officials said they decided to make the Hack the Pentagon bug bounty program a mainstay, and announced contracts with HackerOne and Synack to manage upcoming bug bounty editions.
Gottesfeld and other members of the Anonymous collective decided to start a cyber-war against Boston Children’s Hospital, and later attacked other medical institutions, which in their eyes, provided incorrect medical treatment to teens suffering from mental diseases.
The DDoS attacks against the two medical institutions named in the official charges took place in October 2014, and caused damages of $618,000 combined.
Following the incidents, FBI tracked down Gottesfeld and questioned him in late 2015. Despite being told he was under an official investigation, Gottesfeld and his wife decided to leave the country by boat, sailing from Florida for the coast of Cuba.
Weather conditions strayed the boat off course, and the two called for help. A Disney cruise ship picked up their distress signal and rescued the two, leaving them under the custody of an FBI agent in the Bahamas in February 2016. He was officially arrested a few days later.