John, nice try.

They obviously don't always deliver themselves in PAIRS. The code itself seems to have had its most deleterious effect in activating one or more "alpha" NOIDS. The alpha NOIDS then lead a cluster of NOIDS, and so the problem transforms into a persistent cascade, often spreading through other ways, some of which can propagate cyberpoop exponentially.

Try to figure out how somebody can get into Mudcat's server and write a piece of code on one particular page that no one but Max (and designated geeks) ever actually sees that will hide itself in the right place to be effective but not bother trying to hide from the whole entire rest of us. My feeling is that Max is messing with things, and there is no hacking going on.