DoD bans Flash media

[Trask]

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/11/a ... usb-d.html

\"The Defense Department\'s geeks are spooked by a rapidly spreading worm crawling across their networks. So they\'ve suspended the use of so-called thumb drives, CDs, flash media cards, and all other removable data storage devices from their nets, to try to keep the worm from multiplying any further.

The ban comes from the commander of U.S. Strategic Command, according to an internal Army e-mail. It applies to both the secret SIPR and unclassified NIPR nets. The suspension, which includes everything from external hard drives to \"floppy disks,\" is supposed to take effect \"immediately.\" Similar notices went out to the other military services.\"

I\'m actually surprised that they used USB flash drives to begin with. The company that my company provides tech support for has banned media like that on certain domains for quite awhile due to the trojans we kept getting. It\'s scary to know what information people are capable of obtaining miles and miles away from behind their computer screens.

[Falco Girgis]

LOL. I work DOD. I would paste the email, but I don't think that's really ethical. Also, if we give an instance of where we need a flash device, our team leads can bitch to higher ups and get us "company approved" USB devices that have to be checked everyday and documented and blah blah.

But literally, I cannot even charge my iPod in my USB port. It's completely owned. I can still use my CDROM drive, though. For how long, I'm not sure.

[Trask]

Now I would assume that you go through hefty security while working for the DoD, but I also know that I had a contract job working at the local Homeland Security office in Pittsburgh and they didn't check us for anything. We were packing knives and tools which set off the metal detectors, but they didn't care nor did they check for any clearance and we didn't have an escort.

[Levio91]

LOL. I work DOD. I would paste the email, but I don't think that's really ethical. Also, if we give an instance of where we need a flash device, our team leads can bitch to higher ups and get us "company approved" USB devices that have to be checked everyday and documented and blah blah.

But literally, I cannot even charge my iPod in my USB port. It's completely owned. I can still use my CDROM drive, though. For how long, I'm not sure.

I just saw on the news that china is cyber attacking. Do you know what they are doing falco?

[Falco Girgis]

Embedding applications and malicious software in their flash devices that aren't part of the main flash storage, so they don't show up when you view the device with windows explorer.

And I'm not even allowed to carry a cell phone into work. My division isn't anal about it, but I have heard of people being escorted off the arsenal and fired for bringing an unauthorized cell phone.

[Trask]

We've dealt with China's cyber attacks at our work, always fun when the FBI show up.

[Levio91]

We've dealt with China's cyber attacks at our work, always fun when the FBI show up.

So is it the chinese government or just a bunch of haxorz?

[Trask]

I can't say for sure, as I only know what I'm told, but my guess would be the people the company doing business with, not necessarily the entire government. Trying to save on a few billion in contracts by stealing them, I suppose.

[dandymcgee]

I'm also suprised the DoD ever allowed personal flash drives to be used in their workstations. It's sort of inconvenient for the employees, though security almost always is.

[DJ Yoshi]

Actually, it's not China though the Russians have done a great job of throwing a lot of people off the trail.

A lot of the pirated software that floats around in China comes from Russia. This has malicious code and scripts on it, which then finds its way onto hardware and software that makes it into the US. A lot of DDoS attacks nowadays are jumped off of china but really come from Russia.

Interesting stuff. Not to say that China isn't doing its fair share, they're just not the only ones in the game.