by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
(Worthy News) – A massive Pentagon data breach exposed sensitive personal information belonging to more than 2.76 million living U.S. military personnel and civilian employees, including Social Security numbers and employment information, according to Pentagon officials.
The breach involved a Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) information system and occurred over an extended period between October 2025 and July 2026, when unauthorized users gained access to unencrypted files. Another approximately 294,000 deceased individuals were also affected.
“A Defense Manpower Data Center information system experienced unauthorized access of personally identifiable information by a small number of unauthorized users between October 2025 and July 2026,” a Pentagon official said in a statement cited by Just the News. “Upon discovery, DMDC immediately remediated the vulnerability.”
The Pentagon discovered the breach in July, but affected individuals were reportedly not notified until September 18. The DMDC maintains more than 60 million personnel records, making it one of the Defense Department’s most sensitive repositories of information.
Officials said they have so far found no evidence that the compromised information has been misused.
The disclosure comes amid heightened concerns over cybersecurity across the federal government. In a separate incident, hackers recently claimed to have obtained sensitive FBI personnel information, including medical and psychiatric records. Reuters reported that some documents provided by the hackers appeared authentic, although the full scope of that breach had not been independently verified.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
