Previous Politech message: http://www.politechbot.com/p-04418.html --- http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=528&e=1&cid=528&u=/ap/20030207/ap_on_hi_te/internet_hoax Web Magazine Retracts Virus Attack Story By JIM KRANE, AP Technology Writer NEW YORK - In a bizarre case of one journalist deceiving another, an Internet news site published -- then embarrassingly retracted -- a story that claimed a radical Islamic group was behind a virus-like attack that clogged the Internet. The Web site of Computerworld magazine published on Wednesday an article penned by journalist Dan Verton that he based on an e-mail interview with a person he identified as "Abu Mujahid," a member of Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahadeen. Verton wrote that "Mujahid" claimed the group, believed linked to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al-Qaida network, had unleashed the destructive Jan. 25 Internet worm attack. A four-year staff writer for Computerworld and a former Marine intelligence analyst, Verton thought he had a scoop and wrote a splashy story that said Harkat had acknowledged releasing "the Slammer worm as part of a 'cyber jihad' aimed at creating fear and uncertainty on the Internet." But Mujahid was really Brian McWilliams, 43, a free-lance journalist in Durham, N.H., whose employers include Salon.com and Wired News. McWilliams said he had duped Verton because he wanted to teach reporters "to be more skeptical of people who claim they're involved in cyberterrorism." [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ Recent CNET News.com articles: http://news.search.com/search?q=declan -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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