Staff at the Pentagon's missile-testing unit have been ordered to stop looking at pornography and get back to the business of developing America's lethal arsenal.
The Military Defence Agency is tasked with intercepting inbound missiles.
All 8,000 employees and contractors at the Missile Defence Agency (MDA) were sent a strongly-worded memo warning them to stop "accessing websites, or transmitting messages, containing pornographic or sexually explicit images".
"These actions are not only unprofessional, they reflect time taken away from designated duties... and can compromise the security of the network though the introduction of malware or malicious code," wrote John James, the agency's executive director.
Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the MDA, told the Daily Telegraph that "less than half a dozen" employees had been caught looking at inappropriate sites but that none had been suspended.
The MDA is tasked with developing and testing the US's missile defence system, a vast network of missile sites designed to shoot down incoming nuclear weapons before they strike. On its website it compares the precision of its work to "hitting a bullet with a bullet".
The agency's main concern is that porn sites - along with gambling, internet games and music downloading pages - could allow viruses into its highly-sensitive networks. Iran's nuclear programme was severely set back by Stuxnet, a virus reportedly created by the US and Israeli governments.
Lieutenant General Patrick O'Reilly, the director of the MDA, was harshly criticised in a Pentagon report in May, which accused him of screaming and swearing at junior staff. One subordinate said he "broke the spirit" of employees at the agency.
“Witnesses testified that O’Reilly’s leadership style resulted in a command climate of fear and low morale,” the report concluded.
Lt Gen O'Reilly denied the allegations, which are being reviewed by the Army.
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