Can someone clarify for me what the advantage (today) of small portable drives (or using say an iPhone App to turn your iPhone into a drive) is over simply emailing a document to yourself?

Certainly if you are moving a large number of files at one time, I get it, but other than that, I keep feeling like I'm missing something.

92BuickLeSabre

Hmmm, too little too late knee-jerk reaction?

Sounds like us.

strider_mt2k

Yeah I logged in yesterday and there was a banner notice not to use them anymore. I guess the AF will be burning allota cd's now.

Dooosh

They are not disabling USB ports on government computers.

SylentSnipe

are they talking about that trojan called amvo.exe that spreads through USB drives?

RosaliaRhadamanthys

They're also disabling the USB ports on the computers with the exception of the two used for the Keyboard/mouse as well (or using exclusively PS/2 connectors when possible)

... a real pain in the ass when they replace your computers with new, floppy drive-less Dells.

dirtyblueshirt

ah.
my penis-drive is still safe!

tehdahl

No, floppies will not be making a comeback. Neither will CDRWs. All removable media has been banned.

"FOX News obtained a copy of one memo sent out last week to an Army division within the Pentagon warning of the cyber attack.

"Due to the presence of commercial malware, CDR USSTRATCOM has banned the use of removable media (thumb drives, CDRs/DVDRs, floppy disks) on all DoD networks and computers effective immediately."

The_Gas_Man

"The Pentagon hasn't issued an official statement, but a spokesman did say that they are dealing with a "global virus" that affects such external storage."

So what they're effectively saying since there are no viruses for Mac OS or Linux (any that we need worry about, anyway)... is that they're using Windows.

...And they're the department of defense?!!

Eruanno

@Eruanno:
No, it's saying that Mac OS and Linux is a piece of crap used for the common village idiot who pumps trillions of dollars into a system so it's more user friendly. Instead, they use more cost effective machines that actually gets complicated work done and doesn't throw age old hardware in and charge 500 times the price.

Mr_LaZy

They have actually banned all external drives, even the storage features on the new Blackberry's.

robethleffel

@Dooosh:

What base you at? I got that same banner up earlier this week.

SylentSnipe

@The_Gas_Man: All removable media has been banned.

Except for the paper they used to print that memo Fox got ahold of!

InfiniTrent

@The_Gas_Man:
[www.foxnews.com]

The_Gas_Man

@92BuickLeSabre: There is internet access virtually everywhere, and therefore there's a means of spreading information that way, virtually, all the time. But sometimes it isn't as convenient. Which is especially true when the documents are large.

D.E.P.C.

@strider_mt2k: DARPA has spent millions over the years trying to perfect Write-Only-Memory as a solution to just this sort of problem.

whootowl

@tehdahl: Take the little blue pill to transform it into a hard drive.

whootowl

[blog.wired.com]

KhaiJB

@Mr_LaZy:
While i agree that MAC OS is crap for the most part, Linux is free software and most people run it on older computers. I'm not a mac Hater, i own 2 macs. but i rarely use them because there isn't much to do with them except for record music and surf the internet.

But i fail to understand Eruanno's comment anyway, nobody said it was a windows only virus.

ironslave

Not to mention you aren't allowed to send FOUO outside of the .mil network.

DWes

First of all it has a lot to do with where most of these Drives are manufactured....or at least that's what I suspect.....

@92BuickLeSabre There are caps on DOD computers that limit the size of files you attach. It's a pain in the ass to send yourself something over 5MB.

crewsm

@Mr_LaZy: But then the DoD loved the VAX mainframes systems with users relagated to dumb terminals (very secure when all you data are belong to us).

whootowl

Yes, you can send FOUO outside .mil as long as its unclass

dookas

that virus story sounds like bull. someone prolly stole some sensitive info.

hiimcliff

@whootowl: Whew! I thought you were going to say they developed a system to jerk knees automatically!

strider_mt2k

This ban on USB drives arises from the failed security model of SDC/WinXP and FDCC/Vista. My recommendation: dump SDC & FDCC. There are plenty of UNIX Sys Admins who can build secure, hardened distros of LINUX or UNIX to run on diskless client which will satisfy all DoD security requirements and require a fraction of the patching activity which M$ SDC now necessitates.

SunetraWhiles

@92BuickLeSabre: I carry a 4GB flash drive around for computer support tasks with a couple dozen utilities. Also I keep a copy of school assignments on a drive; much easier to manage all the assignments with a file tree structure (especially for my programming class where I have other dependent files in the same folder). Would be damn near impossible for me to do without a flash drive - certainly more time consuming and frustrating.

If we're talking one document that needs to get from A to B, then yeah, email might work fine. With what you're saying, you want to go practically disc-less and have an iOS.

Geisrud

@undefined:

No way they use windows, so i must assume someone has created a virus for linux???

Digitallysick

@mares: Why would you have to email it to yourself every time you make a change? You just save it locally until you need access to it somewhere else. Or to put it another way, that's all I need to do, my question was what other people were doing that I'm apparently not.

I guess it's also because I'm usually only moving a document between one of two computers (home or work), so at most I'd be emailing a document twice in a day (when I leave work for home and when I'm done working from home).

92BuickLeSabre

Ha! The jump made me lol. Nice bait 'n switch.

SilasEspesh

@92BuickLeSabre: Uh there are a lot of advantages.

It is easy to plug in, open a file and save it. Your way I have to keep saving it and emailing it to myself everytime I make a change. If I am working on something frequently that sucks. And I have to keep with deleting all these old versions in my emails.

mares

@Geisrud: Thanks, that clarifies my general impression, that essentially it fills an organizational need that I guess I rarely have.

92BuickLeSabre

I have been hit hard by this at work. The majority of our PC's don't even have floppies any more so we have no way to do some of the things that we need to do on a regular basis.

mushroom73

They better ban metal coffee mugs with removable bottoms that can easily hide a USB drive. The Recruit? Anyone?

saycarramrod

@RosaliaRhadamanthys: how would u know that? GET HIM!!!!

vinnyr

@92BuickLeSabre: For me, it simplifies having to recreate entire folder structures for my creative work. I have a 16GB flash drive with the stuff I need, and I use it as my work folder. Whether I'm working at my desktop, or from my laptop, I always have the latest versions of everything. Then, when needed I can back it up to the HDD on both machines for triple backup.

Plus, it makes it easy to share files with others, and you never need to worry about having a net connection, just pop inthe flash drive and upload/download as needed. It's tiny, capacious, universally recognized and no exchange of personal info (except what you wish to share) is required. Quite handy. :)

BeautifulAgony

I work at a DOD hospital, and this all happened on Monday. They came over the intercom and said that until further notice thumb drives will not be inserted into DOD computer systems. Go figure.

MadiganLabRat

At the DOE national labs conducting classified research, all compact portable media is banned, including iPods.

surlybastard

I wonder what the solution is since there can't be a ban on individual storage forever.

frigg

@whootowl: It's called the trash. You write it only there, not ever able to read it again. Anybody thinking about recovery software, or leaving the default trash behavior, STFU.

jkr's bold comment

so why not just disable mass storage class and take out CD and floppy drives? Thats what we did at work.

s017jrs

@92BuickLeSabre: If you have a virtual network drive through a VPN, and have Internet/network access, then it is pointless. I however don't always have such access, so I use my SD/USB drive. It's about the size of a postage stamp, fits SD slots, and has a built in USB male connector.

jkr's bold comment

@RosaliaRhadamanthys:
no.
fail.

tehdahl

Why not use a custom OS? They have the budget..

Mammoth

@hiimcliff:
Yeah. It was the traitor.exe virus.

Purple Dave

@92BuickLeSabre:
USB drives can be turned into boot-keys in case your OS gets all horked up. USB drives work even when your internet access doesn't. USB drives will plug into my camera (well, more specifically, my camera's SD cards will transform into USB drives). USB drives offer faster transfer rates than your average internet connection. USB drives can handle larger files than many e-mail services will allow. You don't have to worry about someone hacking into your USB drive. You don't have to worry about accidentally deleting the wrong version of the file, or inadvertantly forwarding it to someone who shouldn't be receiving it. And most importantly, my e-mail doesn't have a Batman logo on it. At least not that I've been able to locate...

Purple Dave

@Mr_LaZy:

Or maybe the government is to cheap to spend money on a secure operating system.
Think of all the jobs lost if running on a Mac or Linux operating systems.

danjuan

@Mammoth: If COTS off the shelf works, then DOD goes with it to minimize budget expenses. Customizing (or actually mandating certain spec's) req'ts is how the US got ridiculous hammers and toilet seats.

At my facility, we can't bring in any personal electronic devices, except things like hearing aids and basic digital watches, which need to go through a security exception. Security is some serious sh!t, you can lose your clearance pretty quickly.

global_dev

@SylentSnipe:

I assure you, they are.

dirtyblueshirt

@Eruanno: The problem is that there are too many pieces of software that are written for windows that the DoD uses.

Some of them, the companies don't exist anymore, don't write software anymore, or won't write for anything but windows.

DownfieldComa

@dirtyblueshirt: Well, our Comm people have already come around and have taken all the USB drives, but they haven't disabled any USB ports.

Mostly because there are other peripherals that use the USB ports. I've got two printers (office jet and dedicated barcode) hooked up via USB ports. There are also other items that are used in different offices that have one or two USB hookups, that are still being used.

So they aren't doing this in every office because there are too many things that need USB ports.

DownfieldComa

SKYNET is real! It's happening!

mikepetel

@SunetraWhiles: No, this ban arises from the lack of common sense by the common user. Give a moron a piece of equipment and without a doubt, the moron finds a way to cock it up.

DownfieldComa

@DWes: You can send FOUO as long as the classification allows you to, and that the person you are sending it has an official need for the information.

Of course, privacy act info and other necessary bits may apply.

DownfieldComa

And most importantly, my e-mail doesn't have a Batman logo on it. At least not that I've been able to locate...

Perhaps the most compelling reason of all.

Thanks all. I'm starting to realize that if I think a little more holistically and relied more on my USB drive I might actually find some ways to make my life a little easier.

Very helpful. Turns out I was missing something after all.

92BuickLeSabre

This is kind of late in the game for the Pentagon...I can understand people using flash drives at DOD-affiliated bases and hospitals, but at the Pentagon itself? I know that my friends who work at Langley have to leave EVERYTHING electronic with security staffers, even cellphones.

uncleezno

I am thinking they are probably removing it because of some employees saving sensitive data on those. Those little drives can be lost very easily.

m-p{3}

@crewsm:

I think you may have a point. The very day this ban was announced and USB storage discovery was disabled, the following article was posted.

[www.dailyartisan.com]

I do believe that it is at least plausible. DoD has been allowing the use of these devices for quite a while and the decision to outright ban them so suddenly makes you want to think. AFAIK, the reasons are still classified, so it may be a while before the whole story comes out.

Hedgy2136

Wasn't there a thing on Gizmodo about a CIA dude saying the Chinese have remote microchips or something or was that digg?

Cowbane

IDK - something does not pass the smell test here.. Why would the DOD allow them in the first place? Some banks go so far as hot glue their usb ports to protect client data.

Our national security seems a bit more important than id theft..

funkychunky

@92BuickLeSabre:
To be fair, you'll probably have a hard time finding the Bat-drives. They were packed in a Limited Edition Giftset version of Batman Begins. They're also only 128MB, so they're pretty much useless as boot-keys. Having realized that, I pretty much haven't done anything with mine. I still use the SD/USB cards with my camera, though. It's _much_ faster to download images through a USB port than it is to hook the camera up with their proprietary cable, or run the card into one of my built-in card-readers.

Purple Dave

@dirtyblueshirt: Why disable the ports? You should just be able to disable the Mass Storage DeviceClass.

That's better, anyway, you'd lock out portable HDDs, cameras with a bulk storage mode, iPods, and so on.

You can then re-authorize particular device serial numbers, or vendor classes, or whatever you decide to allow.

(Abilities to achieve this easily may vary depending on host OS. But the USB standard basically requires the host OS to assign driver by device ID + vendor ID + class ID, then vendor ID + class ID, then class ID. This is how you can have a Logitech driver for one mouse, and a non-Logitech mouse goes to the generic HID mouse driver.)

torgreed

@SunetraWhiles:

I work communications and I have to agree with Downfield 100%, our biggest issue on any base is the users.
Additionally, migrating over to a Linux/UNIX system is not easy as you think since we have a LOT of programs on our networks that only work on Windows. Would I like to see Linux on my machine? Sure, but it won't happen over something RELATIVELY small like this ban.

- Glitch

Glitch4583

And I'm Communications in the Air Force and I assure you we are not.

Glitch4583