A misfired attempt by one subscriber to change the email address he used for receiving messages caused a storm in the US Department of Homeland Security’s mailing list.
Instead of sending a message to the list administrators, job-changing security consultant Alex hit the reply-to-all button. His message was sent to every subscriber of the DHS’s Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report. Attempts to recall this message were futile.
At first several people began firing off tetchy don’t reply-to-all messages, which were, of course, sent to everyone on the list. Quickly this led to the disclosure of the email addresses of fellow members of the list, addresses that are normally hidden in the DHS’s daily updates.
And it rolled merrily downhill from there.
This is NOT the fault of the consultant doing a reply-to-all.
It is the Admin(s) fault! When you create a mailing list in a server, you can decide to WHOM the List-Reply-To goes to.
Lists should always be one-way, not bidirectional.
Reminds we of the good old days when you’d go down the computer lab, find two people who forgot to logout and set their emails to auto reply each other…. then all you had to do was send one email to the other guy and wait until the whole mail server died…. ahh, the good old days of VAX….
This guy never watched “The West Wing.”
Don’t ya just hate it what that happens?
>>It is the Admin(s) fault!
Heck of a job, Homeland security admin(s).
Maybe there’s a Presidential Medal of Freedom in this for ya.
This is all Algore’s fault because he invented the Internet.
You were expecting competence from this administration? Har har.
>>This is all Algore’s fault because he invented the Internet.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. DId you go into hibernation in 2001? That’s the only excuse I can come up with for you to be perpetuating this long-debunked myth about what Vice President Gore actually said.
#8, MM
iHotAir(YOP) has a fetish of demonstrating his moranic ability.
No different than the myth of anthropogenic global warming.
Improbus, I didn’t know that all sys admins were part of the Bush administration.
The BOFH always seemed like a Democrat to me.
#10 – Tie that BS into homeland security in some way.
Here’s my way… If Al Gore had been allowed to serve as President after winning the election, as he did in 2000, then we wouldn’t have this terrifying police state looming over us, and its entirely possible that 9/11 might never have happened and all life on this planet would be adorned in smiles, sunshine, and rainbows.
Maybe a slight exaggerated… But is is certain we’d have had real leadership by a man with an IQ above room temperature.
Hmmm,
He hit REPLY ALL, insted of REPLY, and it went to everyone??
Why was he replying?? to a NOTE that was sent to EVERYONE??
I would ALSO figure the ADMIN would have a DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL…
OK,
for all of us Geeks, Semi-Geeks, Wannabes and so on…
How many people HAVE computers and HAVE lettle or NO knowledge of HOW things work???
How many companies HIRE a receptionist because they know 1 program..and NOTHING ELSE..reasoning is they WONT(they think) mess things up.
AND i wonder what OS they are running..
No wonder I got that “Male enhancement order confirmation” email. I wondered where it originated.
The DHS sysadmin has been presented with the BubbaRayDipDork award for the week. If hhopper chimes in, the guy could win the UKKMA and hit the exacta.
http://tinyurl.com/36gwrd