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1998-03-25
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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 IÆd 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
Copyright ⌐ 1996 CNET Inc. All rights