Posted on 02/19/2010 2:39:26 PM PST by Cheap_Hessian
WASHINGTON (AP) - Nearly 15 months after the Defense Department banned the use of external computer flash drives, officials have agreed to allow limited use of the convenient high-tech storage devices.
The approved flash drives will be included in kits that the military will soon begin to distribute, with the first priority being troops in Afghanistan and Iraq who need the devices to carry or transfer critical data.
Vice Adm. Carl V. Mauney, deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Command, told reporters Friday that initially only dozens will be sent to the war zone, but eventually more kits will be created and distributed. He said he does not know how much the kits will cost, or how many will be handed out over time.
Plagued by millions of computer probes and attacks every day, the Pentagon has been struggling to balance its need for strict computer security with the urgent battlefield demands of its commanders. Defense Department and other U.S. government officials repeatedly warn of the growing threat of coordinated cyber attacks that pose potential national security risks.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Start the stop watch...even with these new and approved thumb drives...they’ve got twelve months at best...before some guy figures out how to beat them.
Well, Hussein did want to reach out to muslims. Flash drives trump translators any day.
The whole point of having flash drives is quick and convenient transfer of data between PCs. I think the writer meant to say that Govt. owned devices are not allowed to be used on personally owned computers. Duh.
I expect some numbskull has already done so. It happens every day. There are always a few people around who just don't hear regulations.
I've nearly thrown out two software engineers this month alone who only seem to hear what they want to hear. One of them I did have removed from a project he was endangering.
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