Warning Notice M.U.D-1
On the 22nd of June, 2008 the computing world was rocked by the horror of a new computer-originated illness and the life it claimed. Eldred Squires, a 26 year old Operator/Administrator at a major California Chemical Company was the first victim. At approximately 9:03 am, Squires logged into his personal account and sent some email to a friend at a remote site. Logging out, he then proceeded to log into the operator account to clean up some problematic printing queues. Following this, he logged out and logged into a test account to check that his print queues were accepting data from normal users. Finding that all was well, he logged out then logged into the root account to create a new username to receive helpdesk mail, not realizing the mortal danger he was in. Wanting to test this new username, he logged out from root and proceeded to login to his new account. Barely three letters into his twelve letter alphanumeric password, he slumped forward across his keyboard, dead.
Investigators, on arriving at the scene could find no reason for his death and elected to wait for further information from the outcome of the Autopsy.
The Autopsy revealed that the victim’s cerebral cortex suffered damage consistent with heating of the brain to approximately 120 degrees Celsius. Still no nearer to the solution of the death, Computer and Workplace Safety Officers decided to recreate, using accounting logs and user audits, the circumstances leading up to the tragedy. Shielding the testing officer from the equipment with leaded glass, the team commenced their tests. Within five minutes, another victim lay sprawled across the keyboard, a fine patina of sweat on their brow. Read the rest of this entry »