US Department of Defense bans USB drives after worm attack
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Malware outbreak triggers removable media lockdown for US military
A virus that uses removable storage devices to replicate has caused the US Department of Defense to ban military personnel from using CDs and USB drives until all devices have been scanned.
The Department detected on its IT infrastructure an outbreak of the Agent.btz virus, a variant of the SillyFDC worm that passes from PC to PC via removable media and then downloads malicious code to the host PC from a remote location. It is not known what malicious code the worm is downloading.
“This is a very serious threat and should be treated as such,” reads one internal email detailing the ban. “Please understand that this is a form of attack, and we need to have patience in dealing with this issue."
The problem is “affecting operations around the world”, the email added.
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