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By David W. Methvin
President bill Clinton was among more than a dozen people hit by an Internet e-mail attack in August. The assault encompassed Internet personalities, and media, business, and other political figures. Among the victims were John Markoff of The New York Times, Philip Elmer-Dewitt of Time magazine, President and Mrs. Clinton, America Online CEO Steve Case and Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. (This writer's WINDOWS Magazine account was hit, most likely in response to the August cover story, Safety on the Net.)
The "mail bombing" attack consisted of subscribing each of the victims to more than 1,000 Internet mailing lists. This is possible because many versions of mailing-list software can be easily tricked into placing an e-mail address other than the actual sender's onto the list. The victim then begins to receive thousands of messages a day.
Although the attacker's address can often be determined from the subscription request message, such people usually work from a stolen account. (The FBI is investigating this particular incident.)
Two days after the attack, someone with the Internet name "johnny xchaotic" posted a message taking credit. It said, in part, "We are losing control of the Net and want to take a last stab at revenge. Revenge may be childish and immature, but it is damn fun and very rewarding." The full text is available at http://www.winmag.com/people/dmethvin/mailbomb.htm
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