Wrong inbox

Journalists on the mailing list of the Home Ministry received an unusual mail this week—a PowerPoint presentation on the media plan during a terror attack, a document meant only for the eyes of senior bureaucrats. Even as all wondered what might have caused the error, there came another communication from the Ministry which said the earlier mail had gone either due to a technical error or due to a virus. Asking the journalists to ignore the PowerPoint message, it warned that the mail could contain viruses or factual inaccuracies. This left the journalists wondering not just how a secure system like the one used by Home Ministry got infected by a virus, but also whether the virus could provide the hacks more sensitive information.