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Ian tells me he isn't sure whether he'll resume the ORBZ service.
-Declan
----- Forwarded message from [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Query from Wired News
To: Declan McCullagh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 15:49:47 -0500
X-Mailer: Lotus Notes Release 5.0.8 June 18, 2001
For your information.
March 21, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michelle Reen, Assistant to the City Manager, 966-3378
City Settles Dispute
with orbz.org
BATTLE CREEK, MI ? City officials have agreed not to pursue
charges against Ian Gulliver, a 20-year-old systems administrator
from Ghent, New York and the administrator of orbz.org. Gulliver
is an anti-spam activist that sent an email to the City and
caused a major slowdown of its mail server.
"Our investigation and conversations with Mr. Gulliver's
attorney have led us to believe that there was no criminal intent
to cause the City harm. However, there was no way for us to know
when we received the hit that this was not intended as a
malicious prank," said Michelle Reen, Assistant to the City
Manager. "Our Information Systems Department and Police
Department took the situation seriously. The Detective had no
reason not to believe he was pursuing a hacker when he issued a
search warrant. The purpose of the search warrant was to
determine the identity of the person who sent the email that
caused our system to fail so we could then determine whether
further investigation would be necessary."
According to Gulliver's attorney, the email sent by Gulliver
was intended to test the City server to determine whether it was
vulnerable to a spam attack. Spam refers to a computer prank that
causes multiple duplicate emails, sometimes several hundred at
once, to clog up the recipient's mail server.
The email test triggered a weakness in the version of Lotus
Domino software used by the City and caused a major slowdown of
the City's email network for about a day on February 25, 2002.
The weakness has been fixed and there is no reason to believe at
this time that the City's server is vulnerable to illicit use for
spamming.
"We are satisfied that Mr. Gulliver intends to provide a
service by creating a blacklist of vulnerable servers. In fact,
we recognize that he has done us a service. We are going to be
taking a close look at our policies regarding Lotus security
updates and how we can avoid the issue in general," said Reen.
"In turn, however, we have asked him to reconsider his policy of
making unannounced tests on servers. In today's computerized
world it is everyone's responsibility to maintain a secure
system.
"But, if I can draw the analogy that just because everyone
should wear a computerized bulletproof vest doesn't mean that
shooting people to find out who isn't wearing one is the best
answer. If Mr. Gulliver chooses to do this, he perhaps shouldn't
be surprised that he will occasionally be confused with the type
of individual he is fighting against.
"In this case, no one was injured. We have been tipped off
by Mr. Gulliver and, we hope, we have also sent a message to
hackers that we will pursue online activity that we feel may be
maliciously intended," said Reen.
<End>
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