Web magazine publishes, retracts virus hoax story
In a bizarre case of one journalist deceiving another, an Internet news site published – then embarrassingly retracted – a story that claimed a radical Islamic group was behind a virus-like attack that clogged the Internet. The Web site of Computerworld magazine published on Wednesday an article penned by journalist Dan Verton that he based on an e-mail interview with a person he identified as “Abu Mujahid,” a member of Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahadeen. Verton wrote that “Mujahid” claimed the group, believed linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network, had unleashed the destructive Jan. 25 Internet worm attack. Full Story