WASHINGTON, D.C.—No matter where they fall on the porn-o-meter, most people probably agree that it would be preferable if employees and contractors for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency did not spend their work day using government computers to access porn sites. But that is exactly what they are allegedly doing, and to such an extent that a warning has been issued by the Agency.
"In a one-page memo," bloomberg.com reported yesterday, "MDA Executive Director John James Jr. wrote that in recent months government employees and contractors were detected 'engaging in inappropriate use of the MDA network.'"
The Missile Defense Agency is "responsible for developing, fielding and upgrading the nation’s ground- and sea-based missile defense programs, working with Japan and Israel, among other nations," according to Bloomberg, It also works with some of the top military contractors in the world, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman.
“The seriousness of the potential breach to operations cannot be overstated,” wrote James in a July 27 memo obtained by Bloomberg, “Specifically, there have been instances of employees and contractors accessing websites, or transmitting messages, containing pornographic or sexually explicit images.
"“These actions are not only unprofessional," he added, "they reflect time taken away from designated duties, are in clear violation of federal and DoD and regulations, consume network resources, and can compromise the security of the network though the introduction of malware or malicious code."
The alleged actions also sure to earn the ire of Congress, and especially Republicans looking for any opportunity to rub the current administrations nose in a scandal. That this one could be spun as compromising national security by way of porn will only increase the expression of outrage, and may result in a round of hearings as the Pentagon seeks "$7.7 billion for the agency in fiscal 2013."
