The Net's most wanted 
                By Janet Kornblum
                August 16, 1996, 2 p.m. PT 

                Some call him the "Unamailer." Others call him a
                mad hacker. But security analysts at the National
                Computer Security Association call him a criminal.

                The person, who identifies himself as "johnny
                xchaotic [sic]," has been sending massive email
                bombs to public figures like President Clinton and
                Rush Limbaugh, and a small number of journalists
                who have offended his sense of right and wrong on
                the Internet. The attacks, a slew of which were
                waged earlier this week, shut down the victim's
                email--which is not only not nice but illegal,
                according to Dave Kennedy, a security analyst for
                the NCSA. 

                The hacker is waging a "denial of service attack,"
                Kennedy said. Since he's certainly crossed state
                lines in his email bombings and targeted people
                whose email is supported by federal systems, this
                falls under the category of a federal crime, he said.

                Whether this could, or would be prosecuted is up
                to local and national law enforcement agencies,
                Kennedy said. But if the time it takes for system
                administrators and victims to restore their
                mailboxes adds up to a high enough price tag, Mr.
                xchaotic could find himself charged with a felony,
                Kennedy said. 

                Of course, the Unamailer, who brags about his
                crimes and tries to explain them in a manifesto
                reminiscent of the deadly Unabomber's, has to be
                caught first. 

                The Netly News Network is one organization
                pouring its resources into doing just that, said
                Stephen Baldwin, the technology producer for
                Pathfinder, which hosts the Netly News Network. 

                The Netly News executive producer, Josh
                Quittner, was one of about a half dozen targets
                among "well-placed pundits and high visibility
                media people," according to Baldwin. 

                When the Netly News published his manifesto
                yesterday, they knew they were giving him exactly
                what he wanted: publicity. But they also hoped
                that the taunting report would "draw him out,"
                Baldwin said. 

                They also knew they might be goading him into an
                renewed attack, Baldwin said. "We're on Defcon
                4 alert here," he said. "We expect an attack,
                possibly over the weekend. We said a lot of things
                in our special report the unamailer will not like. We
                called him names." But, Baldwin added, if he's
                busted, it will be worth it. 

                "He's more than a nuisance. He's causing really
                what I’d call theft of services." 

                Others agree that the Unamailer is no joke. "The
                guy's definitely a bad guy and a computer
                criminal," Kennedy said. "It would not break my
                heart at all to see him arrested and punished. At
                the same time, there are much more malicious
                things to do hacking-wise than what this guy has
                done." 

                Related story:
                Student drops email bomb on university

               
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