[LINK] US DoD to allow thumb drives again

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

US DoD to allow thumb drives again

By WILLIAM MATTHEWS | Last Updated: February 19, 2010 
<http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20100219/IT03/2190302/-1/>

  Fifteen months after banning thumb drives, the U.S. military says some 
drives can be used again. But they must be more secure drives, and users 
must follow stricter security measures, say industry sources.

"They're going to allow reintroduction [of thumb drives], but not 
wholesale," said an information technology industry official. "They don't 
want it to be the Wild West anymore."

Thumb drives were widely used by U.S. troops for storing information 
ranging from mission plans to PowerPoint presentations. Their small size 
and large storage capacity made them convenient for transferring 
information from computer to computer.

But in November 2008, thumb drives infected by viruses infected and 
disrupted military networks, prompting the ban.

Under the decision to lift the ban, the use of thumb drives, memory 
sticks and other "removable media" will be permitted only for "mission 
essential applications," the industry officials said.

And the drives themselves must contain security features, two industry 
sources said. Troops will have to get specific approval to use the 
drives, and only approved drives from a handful of manufacturers can be 
used, they said.

The approved drives are designed so that they can be tracked by system 
administrators, they will require a password or some other form of 
identification to be used, and the information put on them will be 
encrypted, they said.

The drives must be able to work with Department of Defense "malware 
scrubbing kiosks," one source said.

Other features may include anti-virus software in the drive and security 
features that prevent copying or forwarding certain information from the 
drive or saving unapproved information on the drive.

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Cheers,
Stephen