DoD allows flash drive, social media use.

• Position: SOCIAL MEDIA - Department of Defense

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The Department of Defense (DoD) has lifted a ban on portable storage devices, but users must follow the agency's strict rules.

Changes to DoD computer systems have made the devices safer to use, according to Vice Administrator Carl Mauney, deputy commander of the U.S. Strategic Command.

"After extensive testing of mitigation measures, DOD decided to make this technology available again on a strictly controlled basis on DOD computers," said Mauney in a Government Computer News (GCN) e-mail. "Since the order restricting use of removable media, DOD developed capabilities and processes that allow safe use of these devices. Removable media use will be limited to mission-essential operations, and only after strict compliance requirements are met."

One of those requirements is that staff can use only government-procured and government-owned devices. Personally owned devices are still barred from all DoD networks and computers.

Flash media can be used only as a last resort to transfer data from one location to another, and only when other authorized network resources are not available, GCN said. Individual services and agencies will determine whether flash media may be used in their individual organizations, Mauney said. For example, Army officials plan to maintain their ban on flash drives, according to the Army News Service. The new policy states that the department will occasionally audit randomly selected users and drives.

The DoD ban on the devices was issued in...