US Government Officials ‘Adult’ Web Search Spreads Malware

US Government Officials ‘Adult’ Web Search Spreads Malware

You may be aware of the acronym NSFW. For those of you unaware, NSFW or ‘not suitable for work’ means a website or video content that’s probably best avoided while you are sitting at your desk. Particularly on the company network.

One such example of this would be ‘adult entertainment’. It seems, however, that one US Government worker wasn’t aware of this term and after visiting a reported 9,000 adult websites, he has inadvertently spread malware across a whole system.

It Was Just Research! I Swear!

In a report via the BBC, the unnamed employee worked at the US Geological Survey. Various ‘material’ was then downloaded to a USB or phone via the network which led to malware spreading across the entire system. While the network is not thought to contain any classified or sensitive information, the malware will still have been harvesting details.

What Will Happen Now?

Until now, the department strongly advised it’s employees against the use of USB sticks. Additionally, it also recommended them to not connect their phone to the company network. Regardless though, while these were advised, they were not required nor enforced.

I daresay, however, that this unnamed employee is going to have a lot of awkward questions to answer over the coming weeks. Not least of which is how he managed to visit 9,000 different adult websites!

It does, however, highlight that further changes to the regulations will be needed.

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!