'I hacked NASA': Space agency sent an official letter of appreciation to a hacker; here's why

An independent hacker publicly disclosed the second breach of NASA's systems, exposing critical security vulnerabilities. The individual, who shared the news on X, claimed to have reported the issues directly to NASA after discovering them, giving the space agency ample opportunity to address the security gaps.

He wrote, “I hacked @NASA (again) and reported some vulnerabilities to them. Just today, I received this appreciation letter from them after they patched the loopholes!”

I Hacked @NASA (again) and reported some vulnerabilities to them. Just today, I received this appreciation letter from them after they patched the loopholes! pic.twitter.com/t4w92culxK

— 7h3h4ckv157 (@7h3h4ckv157) September 26, 2024

As a response, NASA publicly acknowledged the vulnerabilities and wrote an appreciation letter to the said hacker. The letter, signed by Mark Witt, NASA's Office of Chief Information Officer, recognizes the hacker's efforts in identifying critical vulnerabilities and helping to protect NASA's systems. The space agency expressed gratitude for the hacker's role in safeguarding the "integrity and availability" of its information infrastructure.

The letter read, “On behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and NASA's Vulnerability Disclosure Policy (VDP), we would like to recognise your efforts as an independent security researcher, both in identifying the vulnerability you submitted and for following NASA's VDP policy and guidelines in responsibly reporting this to us.”

Several users on X responded to the post by the hacker stating how big of an achievement this was. One wrote, “That’s worth at least as much as a degree LOL”, while another wrote, “good work mate”. One user commented, “Very nice, congratulations! Also very honest to report it to them” while another responded saying, “Good on NASA for rewarding security researchers rather than punishing them with legal action—it’s really in their best interest.”

One user joked, “They didn't even give you a 'I hacked NASA and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt' Shirt?” while another said, “So hacking NASA is not just a meme haha, great job!”

In other news, SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule has successfully docked at the ISS and will now bring back the stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore back to Earth in February 2025.