Syndicate: FW: spam jams swiss mobile network

[Marion von Osten <marionvonosten@gmx.ch>]

Zurich, 28 March 2001
>
>
>Spam breaks down swiss cell phone network
>
>
>This tuesday the cell phone network of Switzerland was spammed
>with several hundred thousands of SMS by a currently unknown
>identity hiding behind the pseudonym "re.state"
>(http://www.restate.org). Short Message Service (SMS) is the
>ability to send and receive text messages to and from mobile
>telephones.
>
>The swiss mobilcom (http://www.swisscom.ch) was dementing any
>implications on their mobile phone network. However, contrary
>reports were obtained: An employee who wants to stay anonymous
>reported that the company experienced breakdowns for several
>hours in certain areas.
>
>While this amount of SMS seems to be quite a lot, it would
>not be possible to crash a whole country's communication network
>with it, technically. But as cell phones are something users tend
>to carry with them all day long - unlike computers - this makes
>them a far more intimate and responsive medium for personal
>communication. So via forcing people to call somebody they did
>not even know, the effect was nearly doubled. Unofficial sources
>underlined the assumption that the response ratio must have been
>enormous, but - again - no hard figures were mentioned.
>
>Computer specialist and ex-hacker Zabrik Barachev from Kaspersky
>Lab (http://www.kaspersky.ch) said that he had never seen nor
>heard of any software agent capable of influencing people in such
>a strong way before. "They triggered humans' most basic instincts
>in a convincing way. I can't think of a way of evading this. It's
>really astonishing!"
>
>One possible explanation could be that "re.state" has spread his
>message via a derivative software agent which was initially
>developed for the swiss army. It forces people on a subliminal
>level to call somebody they do not know - while making them
>believe that they are acting voluntarily. Was it the sheer
>amount of those people who broke down the communication network
>partially, simply by talking with each other all at the same time?
>
>In a mail which was posted to various mailing lists and
>newsgroups while the spam took place, "re.state" claimed that the
>performance enforced people to communicate with each other and
>that "this sole pure act of human communication broke down
>technology" - a blow against "parasitarian monoculture" -
>whatever that is. <rb>
>
>______
>
>http://www.restate.org
>http://www.swisscom.ch
>http://www.kaspersky.ch
>
>
>General information on SMS can be found on:
>
>http://www.gsmworld.com
>>
>Zurich, 28 March 2001
>
>
>Spam breaks down swiss cell phone network
>
>
>This tuesday the cell phone network of Switzerland was spammed
>with several hundred thousands of SMS by a currently unknown
>identity hiding behind the pseudonym "re.state"
>(http://www.restate.org). Short Message Service (SMS) is the
>ability to send and receive text messages to and from mobile
>telephones.
>
>The swiss mobilcom (http://www.swisscom.ch) was dementing any
>implications on their mobile phone network. However, contrary
>reports were obtained: An employee who wants to stay anonymous
>reported that the company experienced breakdowns for several
>hours in certain areas.
>
>While this amount of SMS seems to be quite a lot, it would
>not be possible to crash a whole country's communication network
>with it, technically. But as cell phones are something users tend
>to carry with them all day long - unlike computers - this makes
>them a far more intimate and responsive medium for personal
>communication. So via forcing people to call somebody they did
>not even know, the effect was nearly doubled. Unofficial sources
>underlined the assumption that the response ratio must have been
>enormous, but - again - no hard figures were mentioned.
>
>Computer specialist and ex-hacker Zabrik Barachev from Kaspersky
>Lab (http://www.kaspersky.ch) said that he had never seen nor
>heard of any software agent capable of influencing people in such
>a strong way before. "They triggered humans' most basic instincts
>in a convincing way. I can't think of a way of evading this. It's
>really astonishing!"
>
>One possible explanation could be that "re.state" has spread his
>message via a derivative software agent which was initially
>developed for the swiss army. It forces people on a subliminal
>level to call somebody they do not know - while making them
>believe that they are acting voluntarily. Was it the sheer
>amount of those people who broke down the communication network
>partially, simply by talking with each other all at the same time?
>
>In a mail which was posted to various mailing lists and
>newsgroups while the spam took place, "re.state" claimed that the
>performance enforced people to communicate with each other and
>that "this sole pure act of human communication broke down
>technology" - a blow against "parasitarian monoculture" -
>whatever that is. <rb>
>
>______
>
>http://www.restate.org
>http://www.swisscom.ch
>http://www.kaspersky.ch
>
>
>General information on SMS can be found on:
>
>http://www.gsmworld.com
>
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