The House of Representatives passed a bill to hire ethical hackers to detect cyber vulnerabilities within the Department of State’s network. The Hack Your State Department Act would authorize professional hackers to report on the DOS network’s weaknesses under a bug bounty program, the office of Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., said Tuesday. The bill would also create a separate vulnerability disclosure program to trial publicly reported vulnerabilities.
“I’m pleased the House passed my Hack Your State Department Act, which I reintroduced with Rep. Yoho at the beginning of this congress,” Lieu said. “It shows there is bipartisan willingness to innovate in order to keep our country’s sensitive information secure,” he added.
Recently, President Trump signed the Hack the Department of Homeland Security Act, a similar bill that Lieu co-sponsored with Rep. Scott Taylor, R-Va.