<messaging> 1. An e-mail message containing live data
intended to do nefarious things to the recipient's computer or
terminal. It is possible, for example, to send letterbombs
that will lock up some specific kinds of terminals when they
are viewed, so thoroughly that the user must turn the terminal
off to unwedge it. Under Unix, a letterbomb can also try to
get part of its contents interpreted as a shell command. The
results of this could range from silly to tragic.
See also Trojan horse; compare nastygram, talk bomb.
2. Loosely, a mailbomb.
[Jargon File]
(1998-01-16)
Nearby terms:
less than « LessTif « let floating « letterbomb » level 1 cache » level 2 cache » LEVEL5 OBJECT
