First published: 04th March 2008
Over a decade of incompetence by US military system administrators has forced the owner to abandon the mildenhall.com domain. The domain was used to promote the British town of Mildenhall in Suffolk, between Cambridge and Norwich, but it received hundreds of classified emails intended for officials at the US Air Force 100th Air Refueling Wing, stationed close to the town. The correct domain name for the air base is mildenhall.af.mil.
The owner of the domain, Gary Sinnott, tried to notify the senders and resolve the problem with the air base, but his early reports were ignored, and he claims some of the senders reacted badly when he informed them of their mistake, and sold his address to spammers. The domain now receives 30,000 messages a day.
An official letter to Mr Sinnott sent last November stated, "Unfortunately, there is no mechanism to forcibly prevent individuals, when in their private capacity, from sending emails to a particular address.", but this does not explain why Mr. Sinnott received classified emails, including, on one occasion, the flight plan of Air Force One. Do they have any policies about encrypting sensitive information?