The USB ports were active on government computers? Really? My company is no where near government but you aren’t connecting a usb data device to any of our machines........
Yes...USB ports are still active on military computers...both on the SIPR and NIPR nets. Now...since the Chinese worm introduced via a thumb drive a couple of years ago...thumb drives have been banned...and if you get caught using them on a gov't computer you will get in big trouble. However...they are still functional. I have watched an army major transfer data from an army NIPR machine to an Army SIPR machine via a thumb drive...because he was too lazy to burn it to CD...and this was after the ban.
However...what I find more surpising about this story is they say the data/cables was up to the "SECRET/NOFORN" level. That really isn't that high of a classification. I have seen some on here question how does a PFC get ahold of that data...well...you HAVE to have a SECRET clearance in most cases just to get on the NIPR net. Matter of fact...if you are AD Air Force...if you CAN'T get at least a secret....you can't be IN...because you can't get on the NIPR. So...getting ahold of SECRET/NOFORN is not that big of a deal. I am SHOCKED that cables that are THIS sensative are ONLY secret/NOFORN. I would think something that could bring disgrace to the nation should be at least TS with a DoS tag or something like that. That is the definition of TS.