Public access cut to DOD Web site in attempt to stop spread of computer virus
By Kevin Dougherty,
Stars and Stripes
Public access to U.S. military Web sites in Europe and elsewhere has
been blocked by the Defense Department for the past several days due to a computer virus
called the “Code Red” bug.
However, U.S. military officials in the United States and Europe said
the move shouldn’t affect DOD employees’ ability to connect to the multitude of
sites that they are accustomed to using during the course of their workday.
“We can get out, but other people can’t get in,” said
William Triplett, a spokesman with the 5th Signal Command in Mannheim, Germany.
The decision to close the door to the general public was made late
last week by the U.S. Space Command, which is responsible for security of military
computer networks. The virus, which can replicate itself at such a rate as to overload a
network system, was discovered in some DOD Web sites, but they have since been repaired.
“It’s quite an extensive undertaking,” said Army Maj.
Barry Venable, a spokesman for the U.S. Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.,
of the effort to combat the bug.
Venable could not say when public access would be restored.
“It will be lifted when we have satisfied ourselves that the
virus no longer poses a threat to the DOD network,” Venable said.
Triplett said technicians in his command believe access will be
restored “in a day or two.”
“It’s like preventive medicine,” Triplett said of the
decision to restrict access to the military sites.
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