US Military Uplifted Ban on Usage of USB Drives

The US Department of Defense (DOD), which prohibited soldiers from using removable devices since November 2008, has lifted the ban.

Thumb drives along with other detachable media were being targeted by a well-known worm namely W32.SillyFDC as it proliferated via military networks. The infection might be prevented from spreading if all detachable media such as USB drives, cameras, printers and external hard drives were banned from using to computer networks at military establishments.

Nevertheless, the removal of restriction doesn't imply that it will be easy for soldiers to work with thumb drives liberally. They can utilize only those hardware devices that are bought, owned and approved by the government. Besides, these devices need to be properly scanned for malware and accordingly cleaned. Another important thing is that these devices mustn't be used illegitimately.

In addition, these devices will be used solely in operations that are essential for mission fulfillment, and strictly based on policy-compliance. Finally, these devices are to be allowed for data transfer when there are no other approved resources of the network.

Meanwhile, 'The Marine and Navy Corps' are constantly making their software up-to-date to detect malware programs and to warn officials about them so that they could be properly cleaned from computers. Moreover, controls are being developed at the service to prevent networks from accessing illegitimate USB flash drives, while operating procedures are being revised to scan and clean flash drives.

Expressing his view on the removal of the ban, Carl Mauney, Vice Adm. and Deputy Commander of the US Strategic Command, stated that the military network administrators could keep watch and assess work on DOD networks, especially when files were introduced via detachable devices. Actually, the DOD routinely kept watch on its networks to detect malware intrusions and followed procedures to deal with attacks, as reported by Govinfosecurity on February 19, 2010.

Moreover, Frank Kenney, Vice-President of Global Strategy at Ipswitch (a software vendor for file-transfer and network-monitoring), evaluated the merits and demerits of removable media. He said that the media increased employee productivity by helping personnel with essential and timely data access. As people are increasingly using the devices, they divulge business intelligence due to large potential gaps, leading to serious compromise of information, Kenney stated.

Related article: US Passes Baton to Asia in Spam Relay

» SPAMfighter News - 3/4/2010