mail storm

An excessive amount of e-mail messages being sent and/or received. Mail storms can occur naturally such as when everyone returns from a long holiday, or they can be created by viruses to purposely slow down a company's networks. See broadcast storm.

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[from broadcast storm, influenced by maelstrom] What often happens when a machine with an Internet connection and active users re-connects after extended downtime — a flood of incoming mail that brings the machine to its knees. See also hairball.