Accenture contractor gave Claude agent access to Pentagon system, WIRED reports

Sources told WIRED the AI coding agent may have sent login credentials and a network map to a high-risk website. Accenture says the allegations were investigated and found to be without merit.

An employee of consulting firm Accenture connected a secure Department of Defense system used by multiple intelligence agencies to a personal account for Claude Code, Anthropic's AI coding agent, WIRED reported on Oct. 29, citing people familiar with the matter.

The agent ran on the Pentagon network for two months earlier this year before it was identified and the vulnerability was patched, the report said. It appears to have sent the contractor's login credentials, passwords and a map of the network to an unnamed third-party website that the National Institute of Standards and Technology has flagged as high risk.

What the report alleges

The coding environment runs on the Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNet), the Defense Department's network for unclassified information, and holds controlled unclassified information, sensitive material that cannot be released publicly without review.

WIRED's source said the contractor gave the agent their login credentials to automate writing code and setting up cloud servers. That gave it administrative access, let it bypass security controls tied to the normal login process and allowed it to commit code on the employee's behalf.

Sources also said Accenture staff did not treat the incident as urgent and the company did not initially report it to the government. Defense employees and federal contractors must report cybersecurity incidents within 72 hours of discovery.

There is no indication hackers reached a classified or top-secret system, and it is unclear what happened to the data after it left the network. Jake Williams, a former NSA hacker now at IANS, told WIRED that because tools are often tested on NIPRNet before moving to classified networks, stolen credentials could in theory be used to plant malicious code that ends up in those systems.

Accenture, Pentagon and Anthropic respond

"We take all concerns seriously. These allegations were thoroughly and independently investigated and found to be without merit. We fully complied with our legal and contractual obligations," an Accenture spokesperson told WIRED. The company did not say who carried out the investigation.

A Defense Department spokesperson said "the Department does not comment on the status of its networks or systems."

Anthropic pointed WIRED to its usage policy, which tells users not to use its products to "interfere with the operation of military bases and related infrastructure" or to "bypass security controls such as authentication systems, end point protection, or monitoring tools without authorization."

Claude's standing at the Pentagon

WIRED noted that Claude is currently barred for Defense Department staff. In July 2025, the Pentagon's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office awarded Anthropic, Google and xAI contracts worth up to $200 million each, following a similar award to OpenAI. In March, the Pentagon formally designated Anthropic a supply chain risk after the company refused to drop limits on using Claude for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon said it needed to use the model for "all lawful purposes"; Anthropic said it would challenge the designation in court.

Accenture holds more than $3.5 billion in federal contracts, nearly $605 million with the Defense Department, WIRED reported.

Accenture contractor gave Claude agent access to Pentagon system, WIRED reports

Sources told WIRED the AI coding agent may have sent login credentials and a network map to a high-risk website. Accenture says the allegations were investigated and found to be without merit.