A government employee who used a government-issued computer to visit 9,000 adult pornography websites is the source of a malware infection that exploited the entire network.
According to a report published on October 17, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) launched an investigation into suspicious internet traffic discovered during an IT security audit of the network at the US Geological Survey (USGS), Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center satellite imaging facility in Sioux Falls, SD.
The employee’s name has been redacted from the report, which states:
We found that __ knowingly used U.S. Government computer systems to access unauthorized internet web pages. We also found that those unauthorized pages hosted malware. The malware was downloaded to __ Government laptop, which then exploited the USGS network. Our digital forensic examination revealed that __ had an extensive history of visiting adult pornography websites. Many of the 9,000 web pages ___ visited routed through websites that originated in Russia and contained malware. Our analysis confirmed that many of the pornographic images were subsequently saved to an unauthorized USB device and personal Android cell phone connected to __Government-issued computer. We found that __ personal cell phone was also infected with malware.
Employees are explicitly prohibited from using government networks for viewing pornography and other inappropriate activities, and the IG found the employee had agreed to these rules “several years prior to detection.”
OIG External Affairs Director Nancy DiPaolo told Nextgov that the employee no longer works at the agency.
Despite strict rules being in place, this is not an uncommon problem. There are many cases of government employees being caught viewing explicit content at work, reports Nextgov:
Over the last 15 years, similar scandals have enveloped the Environmental Protection Agency, Securities and Exchange Commission and IRS. Last year, a D.C.-area news network uncovered “egregious on-the-job pornography viewing” at a dozen federal agencies and national security officials have reportedly found an “unbelievable” amount of child pornography on government devices.
The problem is so prevalent that Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., has introduced legislation banning pornography at federal agencies three different times.
Government employees – hard at work, wasting taxpayer money…as usual.
Wow, a government agency that is too incompetent to protect itself. Imagine that. I am shocked!
Now, explain to me again how these worthies are gonna protect all of us if we would just give them more authority….
Awww… C’mon!
They’re upstanding Angels, after all!
Never mind the Feet Of Clay…
Trust them…
I would like to be utilitarian about this news item, but, in the back of my mind, am skeptical that any of these resources were ever being used for their intended purpose.
I had no idea there were that many porn sites.
They are just like whorehouses. You never know what you might catch there.
But being forced to change your password every month and being forced to use a special character will make everything so secure.
No dumb-ass it will only make everybody write down their passwords and keep them in their desk drawer.
Fools. Fools breeding. Fools everywhere.
Nothing will happen to the govt. puke because of 1. the union and 2. affirmative action. Got to make sure that women and minorities get their “special treatment” now, don’t we?
Employee has too much time on his hands and not enough work to keep them busy….
They all just sit in their offices and watch You Tube or porn. They’re not there to work, but to draw a paycheck for doing nothing. Probably a bunch of people from India like the ones I see in local government offices here in my state. Everywhere you go now, no matter government offices or local businesses, they are all foreigners. I had to stay in a local hotel for 6 days while work was being done on my home. The hotel was owned by people from India and they called in people from a neighboring state to come in to service and clean the AC units in each room. These AC people had to drive 4 to 5 hours to do this work. Why didn’t the hotel use local companies to do this work? White people are being discriminated against.
Stay off naughty sites.
Make love to your wife.
Saves you from computer and human virus.
Norrak:
don’t you remember when Obuthole was pres. he gave special
rebates, subsidized, Tax breaks, whatever “if they would hire new
immigrants” over Americans.?
Someone must have that tape from back about 2013 or so. I
remember being so upset with him….I could spit!!