Three million US military records hacked

A major cybersecurity breach at the United States Department of Defense has exposed sensitive personal information belonging to more than three million people — including serving and former military personnel, civilian employees and their associates — after unauthorised access went undetected for approximately nine months, ABC News reports.

According to Sahara Reporters, the breach affected approximately 2.76 million living individuals and 294,000 deceased persons, compromising Social Security numbers, dates of birth, contact details and military occupational specialties — information national security experts warn could enable foreign intelligence agencies to identify and target American military personnel.

The unauthorised access began in October 2025 and continued until the Pentagon discovered the vulnerability on July 16, 2026. Crucially, the compromised records were not encrypted, significantly amplifying the risk of exploitation.

The affected system belongs to the Defense Manpower Data Center, which maintains over 60 million personnel records. Defence officials said there was currently no evidence the data had been misused.

The Pentagon has begun notifying victims and offering one year of credit monitoring through private firm IDX. The identity of those responsible remains unknown. A separate FBI website breach is under investigation but has not been linked to the Pentagon incident.