Pentagon suffers global virus cyber attack

The Pentagon has suffered from a cyber attack so alarming that it has taken the unprecedented step of banning the use of external hardware devices, such as flash drives and DVD's, FOX News has learned.

The attack came in the form of a global virus or worm that is spreading rapidly throughout a number of military networks.

"We have detected a global virus for which there has been alerts, and we have seen some of this on our networks," a Pentagon official told FOX News. "We are now taking steps to mitigate the virus."

The official could not reveal the source of the attack because that information remains classified.

"Daily there are millions of scans of the GIG, but for security reasons we don't discuss the number of actual intrusions or attempts, or discuss specific measures commanders in the field may be taking to protect and defend our networks," the department said in an official statement. 

Military computers are often referred to as part of the Global Information Grid, or GIG, a system composed of 17 million computers, many of which house classified or sensitive information.

"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."

Some Defense Department computer networks have been infected with a "global virus" and steps are being taken to mitigate it, the Pentagon said Friday.

The acknowledgement followed reports that the military has banned the use of removable flash media like thumb drives or memory sticks in any Defense Department computer.

"We are aware of a global virus for which there are some public alerts on," said Bryan Whitman, Pentagon spokesman. "And we've seen some of this on our networks. And we're taking steps to identify and mitigate the virus."

Whitman would not identify the virus or say what steps have been taken, and it was not known whether the virus had spread to classified computer networks.

The Military Times newspaper, however, cited a November 17 air force memo that ordered the "immediate suspension" of the use of flash media on all unclassified and classified computer networks.

The Pentagon's global information grid includes about 17,000 local and regional networks and seven million individual computers, the newspaper said.

The Love Bug computer virus infected four classified military systems in the United States, the Defence Department has announced.

A statement from the Pentagon said the affected systems were quickly isolated and there were no reports of any impact on military operations.

In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said four classified internal systems were infected.

"Despite these episodes, the Joint Task Force on Computer Network Defence says that it has received no reports that the virus had an impact on military operations," Mr Bacon said.

It is unclear how the virus penetrated the Defence Department's classified computers, which are physically separate from unclassified systems.