A Defense Contractor Gave Their Personal AI Agent Access to a Secure Pentagon System

Oct 29, 2026 2:39 PM

Sources tell WIRED that an Accenture employee’s personal Claude agent ran on a DOD network for two months before it was identified and the vulnerability could be patched.

PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION: WIRED STAFF; GETTY IMAGES

Earlier this year, sources tell WIRED, a contractor caused a security incident at the Department of Defense by connecting a secure centralized system used by multiple intelligence agencies to their personal account for Claude Code, Anthropic’s AI coding agent. It appears that the agent used by the contractor, who is employed by global consulting firm Accenture, then sent information about the DOD system, including login credentials, to a high-risk third-party website.

The centralized system contains controlled unclassified information (CUI), which is considered sensitive and not to be released to the public without review. CUI can include information about critical infrastructure, nuclear submarine propulsion, and vulnerabilities to chemical and biological terrorism. Additionally, security experts say, access to the system could allow for the exploitation of even more sensitive ones.

“It puts all the data that’s in there at risk,” says a source aware of the incident, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press. If the third-party software was compromised, “there could be somebody out there with the ability to log into a secure environment without anyone knowing. It’s 100 percent a national security threat and could cause irreparable harm.”

A DOD spokesperson tells WIRED that “the Department does not comment on the status of its networks or systems.”

“We are in a conflict with Iran right now,” says the employee, noting that Iran has attempted to hack several federal agencies and parts of US infrastructure. “It’s the worst time to be having this kind of cavalier attitude.”

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