Pentagon bars use of flash drives

The Pentagon has banned, at least temporarily, the use of external computer flash drives because of a virus threat detected on Defense Department networks.

Though officials would not publicly confirm the ban, messages were sent to employees informing them of the restrictions. As part of the ban, the Pentagon was collecting small flash drives, according to one message distributed to employees.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to provide details on the virus, but he described it as a “global virus” that has been the subject of public alerts.