The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced this week the deployment of a program that hackers can utilize to find weaknesses in its cybersecurity systems.

The organization launched “Hack DHS,” a bug bounty program to identify potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities with hackers being compensated with financial payments (“bounties”) for the bugs they identify, according to a news release.  

“As the federal government’s cybersecurity quarterback, DHS must lead by example and constantly seek to strengthen the security of our own systems,” DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said. “The Hack DHS program incentivizes highly skilled hackers to identify cybersecurity weaknesses in our systems before they can be exploited by bad actors. This program is one example of how the department is partnering with the community to help protect our nation’s cybersecurity.”   

DHS hopes to build a program prototype that can be utilized by other government organizations to enhance their own cybersecurity resilience, according to a news release.  

The program will have a three-phase approach throughout the 2022 fiscal year with the organization willing to compensate outside hackers to spot liabilities in the agency’s computer systems.

Bloomberg reported that DHS intends for the program not to be available to everyone, only to cybersecurity researchers that it has vetted.