Brief
Pentagon database breach exposed data of 2.76 million U.S. military personnel
The breach, discovered in July 2026, involved the Defense Manpower Data Center and affected millions of living and deceased personnel.
By Felo News Desk · Published
A breach of the Pentagon’s Defense Manpower Data Center database exposed sensitive information belonging to 2.76 million living U.S. military personnel and an additional 294,000 deceased individuals, officials said on 29 September 2026. The unauthorized access, which began in October 2025 and continued until July 2026, included Social Security numbers and job details of active‑duty, reserve, civilian, contractor, retiree, veteran and family‑member records. The Defense Manpower Data Center, which holds more than 60 million personnel records, remediated the vulnerability immediately after discovery and has found no evidence that the data has been misused. The Pentagon is offering identity‑protection and credit‑monitoring resources to those affected.
Key facts
- 2.76 million living people were affected (news.yahoo.com)
- 294,000 deceased people were affected (news.yahoo.com)
- Unauthorized access lasted from October 2025 to July 2026 (news.yahoo.com)
- Defense Manpower Data Center remediated the vulnerability immediately after discovery (news.yahoo.com)
- No evidence of misuse of the exposed data has been found (news.yahoo.com)
Sources
- [1] news.yahoo.com — originally reported as “Pentagon breach exposed sensitive data on nearly 3 million people”
