smurf

smurf
 /smerf/, n.

   1. [from the soc.motss newsgroup on Usenet, after some obnoxiously
   gooey cartoon characters] A newsgroup regular with a habitual style
   that is irreverent, silly, and cute. Like many other hackish terms for
   people, this one may be praise or insult depending on who uses it. In
   general, being referred to as a smurf is probably not going to make
   your day unless you've previously adopted the label yourself in a
   spirit of irony. Compare {old fart}.

   2. [techspeak] A ping packet with a forged source address sent to some
   other network's broadcast address. All the machines on the destination
   network will send a ping response to the forged source address (the
   victim). This both overloads the victim's network and hides the
   location of the attacker.
    

smurf

   <jargon> /smerf/ (From the news:soc.motss Usenet
   newsgroup, after some obnoxiously gooey cartoon characters) A
   newsgroup regular with a habitual style that is irreverent,
   silly, and cute.  Like many other hackish terms for people,
   this one may be praise or insult depending on who uses it.  In
   general, being referred to as a smurf is probably not going to
   make your day unless you've previously adopted the label
   yourself in a spirit of irony.

   Compare {old fart}.

   [{Jargon File}]

   (1995-10-25)