letterbomb

   1.  n.  A  piece  of  {email}  containing  {live data} intended to do
   nefarious  things  to the recipient's machine or terminal. It used to
   be possible, for example, to send letterbombs that would lock up some
   specific  kinds of terminals when they are viewed, so thoroughly that
   the  user  must  cycle  power (see {cycle}, sense 3) to unwedge them.
   Under  Unix,  a  letterbomb  can also try to get part of its contents
   interpreted  as  a  shell  command to the mailer. The results of this
   could  range from silly to tragic; fortunately it has been some years
   since  any of the standard Unix/Internet mail software was vulnerable
   to  such  an attack (though, as the Melissa virus attack demonstrated
   in early 1999, Microsoft systems can have serious problems). See also
   {Trojan horse}; compare {nastygram}.

   2. Loosely, a {mailbomb}.

[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {mailbomb}{nastygram}{plan file}]