Dutchman receives 100,000 emails from US military due to typing error

Zuurbier received the thousands of emails accidentallywrites the Financial Times. He is the owner of the Malian .ml domain code, which is very similar to the .mil ending used by the US military.

Zuurbier recently made headlines because he also owns Financial News Radio, which won a big prize at the FM frequency auction. He is also the founder of various country domain codes that allow people to apply for and register their own domain names, including .tk from the island of Tokelau and therefore .ml from Mali.

Most of the emails Zuurbier received from the US military did not contain classified information, but he did occasionally receive sensitive documents. This concerns, for example, travel data of high-ranking officials, passport numbers, arms production details, passwords and tax returns. Last Wednesday alone, Zuurbier received over 1,000 emails.

It’s been ten years

Zuurbier discovered the issue nearly a decade ago and has repeatedly contacted the US government to raise it. According to the Internet entrepreneur, this is a serious risk that can be exploited by enemies of the United States. In Washington, according to the Financial Times, little seems to have happened with the warnings.

Zuurbier’s contract for the domain code expires today, meaning the Malian government will regain control of .ml. Mali maintains close ties with Russia. For example, the Wagner group supported the government.

According to US military experts, it would be a major problem if such a country were to get its hands on sensitive military information.