Pentagon database breach exposes data of nearly 3 million people
A cyberattack on the Pentagon's personnel data center exposed information on almost 3 million current and former service members. The Defense Department says there is no sign the stolen data has been misused.
A breach of the U.S. Department of Defense's Manpower Data Center (DMDC) has exposed personal information belonging to nearly 3 million people, ABC News reported, a finding cited by Deutsche Welle.
According to the report, the breach affected 2.76 million people along with records of an additional 294,000 deceased individuals. The exposed data reportedly includes Social Security information and job positions held by both military service members and civilian personnel.
Officials' assessment
A Defense Department official, quoted by ABC News, said the scale of the leak and the sensitivity of the exposed information could raise national security concerns, since the files contained details on positions held by service members and civilian staff.
A Pentagon spokesperson said that between October 2025 and July 2026, a small number of unauthorized users gained access to personal information stored in the DMDC. Once discovered, the vulnerability was immediately fixed, the spokesperson said.
About the data center
The DMDC is one of the Pentagon's core databases, storing records on active-duty service members and reservists, civilian employees, contractors, retirees, veterans and military family members.
According to the Pentagon, there is currently no indication that the stolen data has been used for malicious purposes.
Separately, on September 23 the FBI reported a possible cyberattack on its job vacancies website. The number of people affected by that incident remains unclear.
