Email storm

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An email storm (also called a reply all storm or sometimes reply allpocalypse) is a sudden spike of "reply all" messages on an email distribution list, usually caused by a controversial or misdirected message. Such storms can start when even one member of the distribution list replies to the entire list at the same time in response to an instigating message. When other members respond, pleading for the cessation of messages, asking to be removed from the list, or adding vitriol to the discussion this triggers a chain reaction of email messages. The sheer load of traffic generated by these storms can render the email servers inoperative, similar to a distributed denial-of-service attack.

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Some email viruses also have the capacity to create email storms by sending copies of themselves to an infected user's contacts, including distribution lists, infecting the contacts in turn.

Examples

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Related Research Articles

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The following tables compare general and technical information for many wiki software packages.

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elementary OS Desktop operating system based on Ubuntu

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discourse (software)</span> Internet forum software (released 2014)

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Slack is a cloud-based team communication platform developed by Slack Technologies, which has been owned by Salesforce since 2020. Slack uses a freemium model. Slack's primary userbase is businesses, and has functionalities primarily for businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuta (email)</span> Free and open-source end-to-end encrypted email software and host

Tuta, formerly Tutanota, is an end-to-end encrypted email app and a freemium secure email service. The service is advertisement-free; it relies on donations and premium subscriptions. As of June 2023, Tutanota's owners claimed to have over 10 million users of the product. The company announced a transition to 100% renewable electricity in March 2019. This decision coincided with employee participation in Fridays for Future protests.

Autocrypt is a cryptographic protocol for email clients aiming to simplify key exchange and enabling encryption. Version 1.0 of the Autocrypt specification was released in December 2017 and makes no attempt to protect against MITM attacks. It is implemented on top of OpenPGP replacing its complex key management by fully automated exchange of cryptographic keys between peers.

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