Arab-American activist Nawar Shora checked his e-mail one day and found scores of angry messages asking why he hated Americans and Jews. The messages were responding to e-mails marked as coming from him. Only one big problem: Shora never sent the hate mail. SHORA, A LEGAL ADVISER to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, was the victim of a new form of harassment in which fake e-mail is sent using real addresses. By exploiting the simplicity and openness of the Internet’s mail protocols, unidentified provocateurs have been sending incendiary messages posing as Shora and other Arab-Americans. The tactic, known as e-mail spoofing, requires little technical know-how and no illegal computer break-ins. Yet it has caused a lot of trouble — wasting time, damaging reputations and even leading to the suspension of e-mail accounts. “One was a long, detailed essay about how evil Jewish people are and how we have to kill them all. (Another said) America deserved what it got as if we were a branch of al-Qaida,” Shora said. “In the times we live in, those are all dangerous. There’s already a negative sentiment against Arab-Americans.” NOT GENERALLY ILLEGAL E-mail can easily be spoofed by tweaking settings on standard e-mail software. Several Web sites even automate the process by creating Web-based forms for sending fake e-mail. It’s analogous to putting someone else down as the return address on letters dropped in the corner mailbox. Full Story
About OODA Analyst
OODA is comprised of a unique team of international experts capable of providing advanced intelligence and analysis, strategy and planning support, risk and threat management, training, decision support, crisis response, and security services to global corporations and governments.