“Classification: UNCLASSIFIED what does that mean?”
Someone on a Department of Homeland Security listserv sends an address change request, hits reply to all, and hilarity ensues.
October 3, 2007, 5:38 pm
Email Crisis Strikes Homeland Security
Robert Block reports on gaps in homeland security.
Everyday, the Department of Homeland Security emails an “Open Source Intelligence Report” about the nation’s critical infrastructure to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of security and emergency officials working for corporations, governors’ offices, big city police forces and a myriad of federal agencies. It is a group of serious, security-minded people, or so one would have thought.
Early today, one recipient requested a change in his email address, mistakenly contacting the entire subscriber list. The error set off a chain reaction of responses, revealing once-private email addresses, contact details and a glimpse of how some react to a Homeland Security crisis.
One immediately started networking: “I don’t think everyone realizes that yet, but what a nice way for all of us to get to know one another!” he wrote to the list, punctuating his observance with a little smiley face. That prompted another to suggest everyone on the list provide a local weather report. Some emailed pictures and their phone numbers and street addresses.
Many weren’t so jolly, demanding right in the subject line: “TAKE ME OFF THIS LIST.” That served to generate even more email traffic as others clicked on the powerful “reply to all” option, adding to the accidental DHS spam.
One outraged recipient took the time to set up an anonymous gmail account with user identity “youmorons7” and write a blistering note: “I can see the CNN story on this tomorrow. The DHS’s mail server was crashed yesterday by a group of security ‘professionals’ that are part of our nation’s defense against attack. Because a large number of these ‘professionals’ did not understand how mail reflectors work and what function their reply button served, many of them contributed to the massive wave of e-mail nearly brought the server down.
“The wave of messages was followed by an equally large tide of ‘unsubscribe’ requests that were also relayed to thousands of subscribers. Combined, these messages were found to be the trigger of the crash event. One insider that was interviewed said ‘We should all be able to sleep soundly knowing that this group may be the one of the lines of defense in the protection of our nation.’”
A senior DHS official described the incident was a “non-event” for the department’s own security. No systems crashed; no backdoors were revealed. The reaction of the security professionals on the list, he said, was “much more worrying.”
A sample of the emails that filled our inbox:
# “I like long walks on the beach and a nice chardonnay with my roasted duck.”
# “Or even a nice chianti with that roasted duck - it is autumn!”
# “Look at this as a business development opportunity.”
# “Does anyone need homeland security consulting?”
# “Howdy from Tampa, a sunny place for shady people.”
# “I’m a Sagittarius …”
# “ I like scuba diving …”
And one person wrote:
# “Classification: UNCLASSIFIED what does that mean?”
October 3, 2007, 5:38 pm
Email Crisis Strikes Homeland Security
Robert Block reports on gaps in homeland security.
Everyday, the Department of Homeland Security emails an “Open Source Intelligence Report” about the nation’s critical infrastructure to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of security and emergency officials working for corporations, governors’ offices, big city police forces and a myriad of federal agencies. It is a group of serious, security-minded people, or so one would have thought.
Early today, one recipient requested a change in his email address, mistakenly contacting the entire subscriber list. The error set off a chain reaction of responses, revealing once-private email addresses, contact details and a glimpse of how some react to a Homeland Security crisis.
One immediately started networking: “I don’t think everyone realizes that yet, but what a nice way for all of us to get to know one another!” he wrote to the list, punctuating his observance with a little smiley face. That prompted another to suggest everyone on the list provide a local weather report. Some emailed pictures and their phone numbers and street addresses.
Many weren’t so jolly, demanding right in the subject line: “TAKE ME OFF THIS LIST.” That served to generate even more email traffic as others clicked on the powerful “reply to all” option, adding to the accidental DHS spam.
One outraged recipient took the time to set up an anonymous gmail account with user identity “youmorons7” and write a blistering note: “I can see the CNN story on this tomorrow. The DHS’s mail server was crashed yesterday by a group of security ‘professionals’ that are part of our nation’s defense against attack. Because a large number of these ‘professionals’ did not understand how mail reflectors work and what function their reply button served, many of them contributed to the massive wave of e-mail nearly brought the server down.
“The wave of messages was followed by an equally large tide of ‘unsubscribe’ requests that were also relayed to thousands of subscribers. Combined, these messages were found to be the trigger of the crash event. One insider that was interviewed said ‘We should all be able to sleep soundly knowing that this group may be the one of the lines of defense in the protection of our nation.’”
A senior DHS official described the incident was a “non-event” for the department’s own security. No systems crashed; no backdoors were revealed. The reaction of the security professionals on the list, he said, was “much more worrying.”
A sample of the emails that filled our inbox:
# “I like long walks on the beach and a nice chardonnay with my roasted duck.”
# “Or even a nice chianti with that roasted duck - it is autumn!”
# “Look at this as a business development opportunity.”
# “Does anyone need homeland security consulting?”
# “Howdy from Tampa, a sunny place for shady people.”
# “I’m a Sagittarius …”
# “ I like scuba diving …”
And one person wrote:
# “Classification: UNCLASSIFIED what does that mean?”