U.S. government networks were infected with malware after a federal employee visited roughly 9,000 pages of pornography, according to a watchdog report.

An official at an U.S. Geological Survey facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, “had an extensive history of visiting adult pornography websites,” according to a Department of the Interior inspector general report.

Many of the 9,000 web sites traced back to Russia and contained malware. The malware then exploited the geological survey’s networks.

Viewing or distributing pornography is not allowed on government issued devices, according to the Department of the Interior.

The pornography images were also saved to an USB device and Android cellphone, which are also violations of the department’s ban on connected devices.

The Inspector General launched an investigation after suspicious internet traffic was discovered.

It was not immediately clear if private-browsing was used.

About Justin Lynch

Justin Lynch is the Associate Editor at Fifth Domain. He has written for the New Yorker, the Associated Press, Foreign Policy, the Atlantic, and others. Follow him on Twitter @just1nlynch.

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