Want to export malware to U.S. government systems? Link it to porn and, chances are, a government employee will download those files to his work computer.

That sounds crazy — who would think it was a good idea to watch porn on a work computer? But many government employees do just that, and it's exactly how one employee at a U.S. Geological Survey satellite imaging facility let the Russians into the network.

Some of the 9,000 adult video sites accessed on his work computer (it's anyone's guess how he got any work done) were linked to Russian website and contained malware.

That meant that an Interior Department watchdog found that the USGS networks were infected with malware linked to porn sites, prompting an investigation. From there, it wasn’t too hard for internal investigators to figure out which computer malware had come from.

As the report, published Oct. 17, put it, “Our digital forensic examination revealed that [the employee] had an extensive history of visiting adult pornography websites” noting that “the malware downloaded to [the employee’s] government laptop, which then exploited the USGS’ network.”

How embarrassing. That indiscretion also seems to have cost this unnamed employee his job, according to a statement from Inspector General External Affairs Director Nancy DiPaolo to Nextgov.

Of course, he isn’t the first, and likely won’t be the last, government employee seeking adult diversions on taxpayer equipment. In recent years, employees at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency have been reprimanded for watching porn not only on government computers, but while they were supposed to be working. In some cases, all day, apparently in place of work.

The problem appears to be pervasive despite past reprimands, as an investigation in 2017 found that more than 100 employees in 12 major federal agencies either admitted to or were caught watching porn during work.

Inappropriate actions have consequences. It's bad enough to get caught with your figurative pants down, but that’s also a compromising position when it comes to national security.