FC: Worm uses John Gilmore's open relay at toad.com to reproduce

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

---

Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2002 18:01:45 -0500
To: declan () well com
From: Neil Schwartzman <neil () petemoss com>
Subject: Re: FC: Query from politico: How can I get the word out 
without   spamming?

WRT John Gilmore's contemptuous dismissal of us anti-spam folk with 
"consistency has never been the hobgoblin of small anti-spammer minds.", 
one wonder how he will react to his open relay being hard-wired into a virus?

Is (cr)hacking really that different from spamming, in terms of the abuse 
it reaps from vulnerable systems?

<fair use>
Virus Borrows Internet Pioneer's Server To Spread - Newbytes
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175003.html

By Brian McWilliams
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 06 Mar 2002, 9:46 AM CST
 A server operated by Internet pioneer John Gilmore is being used by a new 
Internet worm to perform its mass-mailing routine, according to virus 
researchers.

The address of the server, Toad.com, is one of 25 open mail relays 
hard-coded by its unidentified author into the W32.Yaha worm, according to 
analyses by anti-virus firms Symantec and Sophos.

 While most of the open servers are located in China and Korea, Toad.com 
is a system installed in Gilmore's home in San Francisco.

Besides co-founding the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Cypherpunks 
cryptography discussion list, Gilmore takes credit for helping establish 
the "alt" Usenet discussion groups.
</fair use>
--
Neil Schwartzman - Editor & Publisher
Pete Moss Publications, Industry & Trade Journals
<http://spamNEWS.com><http://virus-news.com>
<http://spamFLAMES.com><http://petemoss.com>
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