The United States Pentagon will be inviting hackers during the next month to test the security of its computer systems by sending hack attacks. From April 12, Tuesday until May 12 select hackers can participate in the Department of Defense's (DoD) Hack the Pentagon pilot program. The goal is to find cyber-security vulnerabilities.

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DoD reports that no mission-related computer systems will be included in the program. In addition, all hackers will have to meet qualifications such as completing a background check. If the hackers can find security holes they could get cash rewards, according to Voice of America.

This is the first time the US federal government has used a "bug bounty" program, and many security experts argue that it should have been used in the past. Many big companies already have such systems.

Mikko Hypponen is chief research officer at the security and privacy company F-Secure. He points out that hackers can find security flaws anyway so it is important to prevent them from making malicious attacks or selling the information to third parties.

Christopher Lynch heads the Pentagon's US Digital Service. He reports that DoD public websites had four billion visits in 2012 and one-quarter of the visits had malicious goals. Lynch stated in a recent article on Tech Crunch the fact that there were a billion attempts to attack a couple websites creates a "mind-numbing challenge."  

Katie Moussouris is a security consultant who helped the Pentagon to roll out the bug bounty. She explains that the DoD is changing its security strategy to working with hackers instead of punishing them.

In related news, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak also known as "The Woz" told ABC's Lateline that cybercrime has become the biggest threat the world faces. He compared it to the threat of nuclear attacks during the Cold War between the US and USSR.

Wozniak pointed out that people now worry if hack attacks will affect smartphones, electrical systems, or Internet service, according to ABC. He said the situation gets worse every year.

The business partner of Steve Jobs was against the FBI securing a court order to get Apple to unlock the iPhone 5c owned by one of the San Bernardino shooters. He opposes the FBI forcing all companies to build their products with certain specs.    

Here's a report on a Pentagon cyber-attack: