The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released a new audit of a computer network at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Earth Resouces Observation and Science (EROS) Center satellite imaging facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
OIG initiated an investigation into suspicious internet traffic discovered during a regular IT security audit of the USGS computer network. The review found that a single USGS employee infected the network due to the access of unauthorized internet web pages.
Those web pages were embedded with harmful malware, and then downloaded onto a government-issued laptop, which then “exploited the USGS’ network.”
A digital forensic team examined the infected laptop and found porn. After further review, it was determined the USGS employee visited 9,000 web pages of porn that were hosted mainly on Russian servers and contained toxic malware.
OIG found the employee saved much of the pornographic content on an unauthorized USB drive and personal smartphone, both of which were synced to the government computer and network.
“Our digital forensic examination revealed that [the employee] had an extensive history of visiting adult pornography websites” that hosted dangerous malware, the OIG wrote.
“The malware was downloaded to [the employees’] government laptop, which then exploited the USGS’ network.”
The forensic team determined two vulnerabilities in the USGS’ IT security review: website access and open USB ports. They said the “malware is rogue software that is intended to damage or disable computers and computer systems.” The ultimate objective of the malware was to steal highly classified government information while spreading the infection to other systems.
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Rules of Behavior explicitly prohibit employees from using government networks to satisfy porn cravings, and the IOG found the employee had agreed to these rules “several years prior to the detection.”
The employee was discharged from the agency, OIG External Affairs Director Nancy DiPaolo told Nextgov.
However, this is not the first time government workers have been figuratively caught with their pants down.
Over the last two decades, similar incidents have occurred at the Environmental Protection Agency, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the IRS.
Last year, a D.C. news team uncovered “egregious on-the-job pornography viewing” at a dozen federal agencies and national security officials have reportedly found an “unbelievable” amount of child porn on government devices, said Nextgov.
It seems that porn watching on government devices is so widespread that Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., introduced legislation banning porn at federal agencies — three separate times.
Government workers have a porn addiction problem, and it is now jeopardizing national security.
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