By Erika Icon

YNOT – Apparently, peacetime is difficult for some employees of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. Without an imminent threat of incoming nuclear warheads, a number of MDA folks reportedly turned their on-duty attention to bombshells of more erotic kind.

Instead of terminating what reportedly amounted to fewer than one-half dozen crew members and contractors who were caught watching porn on the job, MDA Executive Director John James Jr. circulated a memo to all 8,000-plus of them. The July 27 missive implied visiting, sharing and watching sexually explicit materials on “unauthorized” websites puts U.S. national security at risk.

According to James, not only is watching porn at work unprofessional and a violation of federal and Department of Defense regulations, but the practice also could leave the MDA’s computer network vulnerable to malware invasion.

The memo ended with a warning that employees and contractors who watch porn at work could lose their security clearances and be suspended or fired.

Federal regulations prohibit government employees accessing pornography, gambling, video game, music and video sites on government equipment. The most commonly cited rationale behind the regs is that foreign intelligence services and garden-variety hackers can exploit such sites to deliver malware capable of opening “backdoors” in secure federal networks. Once inside, evildoers can steal sensitive data or otherwise compromise essential operations.