ckd@husc6.harvard.edu (Christopher Davis) (07/20/89)
In article <> VIRUS-L@IBM1.CC.Lehigh.EDU writes:
- - [Description of Vacation "virus" deleted]
- -
- - [Ed. It appears to me to be more a case of an infinite mail loop than
- - anything that could be called a virus. I frequently get messages on
- - VIRUS-L/comp.virus which are sent from a VACATION program (VMS or
- - Unix). Since VIRUS-L is moderated, however, I merely delete the
- - message. If the message goes out to the list, and the VACATION
- - program replies, you have an endless cycle. Use any VACATION program
- - very cautiously.]
All the vacation programs I've ever seen only send one reply to any
address; this is to prevent mail loops such as the one that we saw on
VALERT-L not too long ago.
[For those not on the list, what happened is that a VACATION program
sent one--count 'em, one--reply to the list (a reply to a mis-sent
subscription request, at that!). Then, some JANET site started
bouncing mail back due to a full disk at one site--but was bouncing it
to THE LIST ADDRESS. Needless to say, the resulting mail loop was
rather horrendous, especially since the messages got bigger each time. --ckd]
- --
/\ | / |\ @bu-pub.bu.edu <preferred> | Christopher K. Davis, BU SMG '90
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