Blackholing My Email
A nostalgic dive into the early 2000s internet chronicles the author's battle with increasingly sophisticated email worms that eventually led to the blackholing of his primary personal email address. This personal account highlights the dramatic challenges of digital security in the wild west of the early internet. It resonates with HN readers for its blend of retro tech history, problem-solving, and a relatable tale of internet infrastructure struggles.
The Lowdown
In a throwback to the turn of the millennium, the author recounts a rather unusual request he had to make to his email provider: to 'blackhole' his primary personal email address. This drastic measure was necessitated by an overwhelming onslaught of email worms that threatened the termination of his family's broadband account. The story offers a vivid glimpse into the chaotic and often unprotected digital landscape of the early 2000s.
- The narrative begins in 2002, when email worms like 'ILOVEYOU' were rampant, evolving to harvest email addresses from not just address books but also any text file on a computer's hard drive.
- The author's unique two-letter email,
dv@btinternet.com, was inadvertently exposed through his contributions to popular Counter-Strike maps, where his email was listed in every installation'sreadme.txtand mission briefings. - This exposure led to his inbox being inundated with hundreds, then thousands, of worm-generated emails daily, quickly exceeding his generous 15MB mailbox limit.
- Initial attempts to filter these emails proved futile as worms became more sophisticated, utilizing random subject lines, spoofed headers, and stolen attachments to evade detection.
- The sheer volume of spam and the spoofed 'from' addresses, which often pointed back to the author, led to warnings from his ISP, BT, about excessive email usage and the risk of broadband account termination.
- To protect his family's internet access and prevent further chaos from bounced emails, the author had no choice but to request that BT blackhole his email address.
The author reflects on the extreme measures required to navigate the early internet's security challenges, a stark contrast to today's more robust email protections. He muses about the fate of his old email address, which eventually became nonexistent, wondering if it still receives phantom worms.