Hackers discover nearly 140 security flaws at the Pentagon

The "Hack the Pentagon" event, Washington's first "bug bounty" competition, attracted 1,400 computer-savvy Americans, AFP reported, citing information from the US Department of Defense.

The cost of organizing the program is $150,000, half of which will be given to the hackers.

US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. Photo: AP.

"That's not a small amount of money. However, if we did the normal process of hiring an outside company to test and assess the possibility of an attack like every time, it would cost more than $1 million," US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said at a brief ceremony at the Pentagon.

Hackers were invited by the Pentagon to find vulnerabilities on five websites, including defense.gov, from April 18 to May 12. During this time, hackers identified 1,189 vulnerabilities, of which 138 were "relevant, unique, and reward worthy."

In addition to closing security gaps, the administration is also aiming to build stronger bridges to innovative citizens who want to make a difference in the Pentagon's defense mission, Carter said.

According to VNE