Bonum Certa Men Certa

Targeted Attack Leveraging FSF Servers

Target



Summary: Targeted by a determined and persist perpetrator, I've received over 20,000 E-mails. And the weapon of choice was the FSF's infrastructure, remotely misused against yours truly.

THOSE who read our IRC logs or follow us outside this site (e.g. social control media) would likely be aware of communications we had opened up with the FSF in the form of a report, support ticket, and correspondence.



"Leveraging Tor exit nodes, some party decided to 'weaponise' the FSF's mailing lists to bombard my E-mail accounts several times per minute."First of all, I'd like to commend the FSF for swift action, transparency and eventually an explanation (including technical aspects).

So what is it that happened? Well, it seems like more than a week ago someone (or someones) was trying to cause nuisance if not conflict (it was a nuisance, but I spoke to 3 people at the FSF and there was no conflict). Leveraging Tor exit nodes, some party decided to 'weaponise' the FSF's mailing lists to bombard my E-mail accounts several times per minute. For several days. Non-stop.

"Suffice to say, it clogged things up and caused technical issues."By week's end I had received over 20,000 E-mails from the FSF's mailman services. Suffice to say, it clogged things up and caused technical issues. Rather than flag as spam or report the FSF I contacted them, at the advice or Mr. Oliva, and the problem was resolved within less than a day (despite COVID-19 disruptions to workflows and LibrePlanet right there in the middle, keeping FSF staff very busy).

The timing of the incident was particularly inconvenient to all and its perpetrators remain unknown. We can only speculate about the motivations. This week I asked the FSF if I can interpret the situation as, "as far as we know only Roy was targeted by this" and John Sullivan responded with a yes.

The spam mails have stopped.

It's worth noting that not one E-mail address of mine was targeted (the public address; there are more addresses). Two accounts were targeted, including a private one (which isn't easy to find).

"It's worth noting that not one E-mail address of mine was targeted (the public address; there are more addresses). Two accounts were targeted, including a private one (which isn't easy to find)."So it seems rather clear that someone targeted me, specifically, and used FSF servers for this purpose.

"Given various recent events," I told the FSF, "it's rather clear that some people try driving a wedge and strive harm Free software groups. There's ample evidence of it. Who would have the persistence to get 20,000 spam mails sent to my account from FSF servers?"

The mystery persists, but the FSF and us are in good terms. Many thanks and kind regards to Ruben Rodriguez, Zoë Kooyman, and John Sullivan.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Rabbit Hole and DeGoogling Fairphone
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: Russian War Planes Invade NATO Airspace While Dihydroxyacetone Man Escalates Attack on Free Speech Because of Critics
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 21, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 21, 2025
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
Vintage is Sometimes Better
Why can't we get back to "simple" if (or where) "simple" means better?
Climate Breakdown Means We'll be Publishing More, Not Less
Press freedom will be a common, recurring theme
Our 5-Year Geminispace Anniversary is Coming Up
I still remember when Gemini Protocol was quite new
It's Right to Point Out Violence From the Right
Violence is a recurring theme
Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
Web Browsers That "Do Hey Hi" (AI)
State-of-the-art plagiarism or "autocomplete on steroids" (not coined by us, nevertheless a nice description) don't have much/any prospect
Links 20/09/2025: Hardware Projects in View, Some Independent Publishers About Russia Prosper After Cheeto Cuts Funding
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Options and TV Time Machine
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Retrocomputer, Antique Phone Experience, and More
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day