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That is probably what it was. Quittner and Slatalla had just finished a book , about the rivalry between a gang of computer hackers called the Masters of Deception and their archenemies, the Legion of Doom -- an excerpt of which appears in the current issue of Wired magazine. And as it turns out, Wired was mail-bombed the same day Quittner was -- with some 3,000 copies of the same nasty message from the I.L.F. Speculation on the Net at week's end was that the attacks may have been the work of the Masters of Deception -- some of whom have actually served prison time for vandalizing the computers and telephone systems of people who offend them. But given the layers of intrigue and deception in the hacker wars, that could just as easily be disinformation broadcast to distract attention from a rival gang -- or even a gang wannabe. It almost doesn't matter. Like many terrorist acts, this one seems to have backfired. The Internet today feels a little less "liberated," a lot less safe, and even more likely to be sectioned off with those firewalls the I.L.F. seemed so intent on destroying.