FC: A spam cyberattack? Pentagon hit by insecure announcement list

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Sun Feb 16 2003 - 08:52:35 PST

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    [Anyone else snowed in here in DC? We seem to have about a foot so far, and 
    it shows no immediate signs of stopping. (Sledding in Rock Creek? Hmm.) 
    --Declan]
    
    ---
    
    To: declanat_private
    Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 04:09:55 -0500
    From: "Ethan Lindsey" <ethan.lindsey8at_private>
    Subject: funky DOD email snafu
    
    Declan --
    Don't know if you'd be interested, but in a somewhat less malicious attack 
    on the DOD...I am on the DOD's daily email schedule listserv, as well as 
    the DOD press release listserv, and today it seems somebody found a way to 
    use the list for their own spam.
    
    And the first response back was an Out-of-the-office autoreply from what 
    appears to be an IBM consultant that administers the listserv. Then, 
    surprisingly, every subscriber was able to send email to the list that 
    would be forwarded to all other subscribers -- a feature I would be 
    reasonably sure the Pentagon would have disabled.....anyways, heres the 
    messages so far, in chronological order, for kicks:
    
    Date:  Sat, 15 Feb 2003 22:17:58 +0100
    From:  Polyglots - Paz <pazat_private>
    Subject:  Book publishing - help offered / Bokutgivning
    To:  DODNEWS-Lat_private
    Reply To:  DODNEWS-L-requestat_private
    
    NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
    Message in English and Swedish
    Meddelande på svenska och engelska
    ENGLISH:
    Are you a writer? Are you an aspiring writer? Have you written a
    book-length manuscript? If you are interested in genuine help in
    publishing your book in the ORIGINAL LANGUAGE and simultaneous
    translations, potentially at no cost to you, contact us.
    Small publishers are also invited to cooperate.
    Contact:
    U. Paz (Mr.)
    pazat_private
    sites: www.thepolyglots.com
    www.multilingual-publishing.com
    
    SVENSKA:
    Är du en författare? Är du en blivande författare? Har du skrivit ett
    bokmanuskript?
    Om du är intresserad av att publicera din bok på originalspråket samt
    simultanöversättningar, eventuellt till inga kostnader för din del,
    kontakta oss.
    Även mindre förlag är inbjudna för samarbete.
    Kontakta:
    U. Paz (Mr.)
    pazat_private
    sites: www.thepolyglots.com
    www.multilingual-publishing.com
    
    -- News Releases: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/releases.html
    
    -- DoD news: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/dodnews.html
    -- Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/dodnews.html#e-mail
    
    -- Today in DoD: http://www.defenselink.mil/today
    
    ---------------------------------------------------
    
    Date:  Sat, 15 Feb 2003 16:44:37 -0500
    From:  Linda N Marshall <lindamarat_private>
    Subject:  Linda N Marshall/Bethesda/IBM is out of the office.
    To:  DODNEWS-Lat_private
    Reply To:  DODNEWS-L-requestat_private
    
    NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
    I will be out of the office starting February 14, 2003 and will not return
    until February 17, 2003.
    I will respond to your message when I return.
    
    -- News Releases: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/releases.html
    
    -- DoD news: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/dodnews.html
    -- Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/dodnews.html#e-mail
    
    -- Today in DoD: http://www.defenselink.mil/today
    
    ------------------------------------------------------
    
    Date:  Sat, 15 Feb 2003 17:08:42 -0500
    From:  Alex & Babs <AlexnBabsat_private>
    Subject:  Re: Book publishing - help offered / Bokutgivning
    To:  DODNEWS-Lat_private
    Reply To:  DODNEWS-L-requestat_private
    
    NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
    
    WTFO?
    This seems like spam/junk solicitation.
    This is not why I subscribe to your service.
    ----- Original Message Deleted-----
    
    --------------------------------------------------------
    
    Date:  Sat, 15 Feb 2003 17:26:27 -0500
    From:  "Poblete, Jason I." <JPobleteat_private>
    Subject:  Re: Book publishing - help offered / Bokutgivning
    To:  DODNEWS-Lat_private
    Reply To:  DODNEWS-L-requestat_private
    
    NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
    
    Ditto, we are also not allowed to respond, usually, to all users this way.
    
    Date:  Sat, 15 Feb 2003 17:29:58 -0500
    From:  Dustin Clark <Dustinat_private>
    Subject:  Re: Book publishing - help offered / Bokutgivning
    To:  DODNEWS-Lat_private
    Reply To:  DODNEWS-L-requestat_private
    
    Seems highly suspect to me
    
    
    
    
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