Pentagon Bans Thumb Drives

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department has banned, at least temporarily, the use of external computer flash drives in the Pentagon because of a virus threat that officials detected on defense networks.

While defense officials would not confirm the ban, messages were sent to department employees informing them of the new restrictions. As part of the ban, the Pentagon was collecting any of the small flash drives that were bought or provided to workers by the department, according to one message distributed to employees.

Workers are being told there is no guarantee they will ever get the devices back, and it was not clear how long the ban will last.

Learn more about the Pentagon virus attack at Defense Tech

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman would provide no details on the virus Friday, but he described it as a "global virus" that has been the subject of public alerts.

"This is not solely a department problem; this is not solely a government problem," Whitman said.

The Pentagon has acknowledged that its vast computer network is scanned or probed by outsiders millions of times each day. Last year a cyber attack forced the Defense Department to take as many as 1,500 computers off line.

Officials said then that a penetration of the system was detected, but the attack had no adverse impact on department operations.

Military leaders have consistently warned, however, of potential threats from a variety of sources including other countries, such as China, along with other self-styled cyber-vigilantes or terrorists.