Palin's E-Mail Account Hacked, Published on Web Site

phoebeclark

Bad stuff seem to be going to Palin's way more.

"In the latest of a series of invasions into Sarah Palin’s personal life, hackers have broken into the Republican vice presidential candidate’s private e-mail account, and a widely read Web site has published screen grabs from it.
An article Wednesday in Gawker.com posts family photos and snapshots of e-mail exchanges the Alaska governor had with colleagues. Gawker says the-email account has since been shut down, but it will leave the images up on its site for all to see.
“Here are the screenshots of the emails saved before the account went dark, along with the contact list. It’s newsworthy and we will not be taking it down!” the site declares.
Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain, released a statement calling the publication a “shocking invasion of the governor’s privacy and a violation of law.”
“The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these e-mails will destroy them. We will have no further comment,” Davis said.
The Secret Service contacted The Associated Press on Wednesday and asked for copies of the leaked e-mails, which circulated widely on the Internet. The AP did not comply.
The Gawker article boasts about the lengths to which the reporter went to verify the account, saying he or she even called a phone number listed for Palin’s teenage daughter, Bristol, which apparently went to her voicemail. The site also listed dozens of contact e-mails from the account.
Both WIRED and Gawker reported that members claiming to be with a group known as Anonymous took credit for hacking into Palin’s account. Screen grabs were published on other Web sites and then deleted, Gawker reported.
They reportedly came from a Yahoo e-mail account Palin uses — one separate from another private account that was publicized in The Washington Post last week.
One person whose e-mail to Palin apparently was among those disclosed, Amy B. McCorkell, declined to discuss her correspondence. “I do not know anything about it,” McCorkell said. “I’m not giving you any comment.” Wired.com said McCorkell later confirmed that she did send the e-mail to Palin.
Another of the e-mails apparently revealed Wednesday was an exchange in July with Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell discussing a talk show host who had been critical of Parnell. Parnell declined to discuss the matter.
Gawker complained that Palin has since “deleted” the account, and suggested she was trying to “destroy evidence.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how hackers broke into Palin’s Yahoo! account, but it would have been possible to trick the service into revealing her password knowing personal details about Palin that include her birthdate and ZIP code. A hacker also might have sent a forged e-mail to her account tricking her into revealing her own password.
Palin has faced scrutiny for using her private account to do government business. The Washington Post reported last week that a local Republican activist is trying to get Palin to release more than 1,100 e-mails she withheld from a public records request. The appeal reportedly questions why Palin and her aides shift between public and private e-mail accounts.
A spokeswoman in the governor’s office in Alaska declined to comment Wednesday, referring questions from FOXNews.com to the McCain-Palin campaign.
“Primarily we’re referring people to the campaign because honestly people wouldn’t be asking these questions if she wasn’t a candidate for [vice president],” spokeswoman Kate Morgan said.
The Palin family was subjected to intense scrutiny after she was selected as John McCain’s running mate on Aug. 29. Reporters descended on her home town of Wasilla, Alaska, as the media focused on her unwed teenage daughter’s pregnancy."

Black Swan

From Wired.com article:

Palin has come under fire for using private e-mail accounts to conduct state business. Critics allege that she uses the account to get around public records laws, as the Bush administration has also been charged with doing.


Now why would Sarah Palin want to get around "public records laws" if what she does is ethical as Governor?

Hobbes

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

Now why would Sarah Palin want to get around "public records laws" if what she does is ethical as Governor?

That's one of those questions where you know the answer?

Actually what is disturbing about this is that any mails sent though yahoo are not secure. If they used the internal mail system the mails would not leave the intranet (unless they also messed that up as well).

is_that_so

This stuff just goes from bad to worse. If she was a Democrat then much of this digging in the dirt would not be happening at all and they'd be carping at conservative sites for digging. It would be much more honest if some of these people just said "I hate Sarah Palin and I'm gonna do my damnedest to see she never gets near the White House".

Sherifu

is_that_so wrote: »

This stuff just goes from bad to worse. If she was a Democrat then much of this digging in the dirt would not be happening at all adn they'd be carping at conservative sites for digging. It would be much more honest if some of these people just said "I hate Sarah Palin and I'm gonna do my damnedest to see she never gets near the White House".

Republicans wouldn't dig up dirt?

is_that_so

Sherifu wrote: »

Republicans wouldn't dig up dirt?

I think I covered that. Not a fan of it from either side and much of it serves no public purpose.

Black Swan

Hobbes wrote: »

Actually what is disturbing about this is that any mails sent though yahoo are not secure. If they used the internal mail system the mails would not leave the intranet (unless they also messed that up as well).

Does this suggest that Governor Sarah Palin is not very tech savvy, or even worse, that she is ignorant of the vulnerabilities of the web as pertains to technology and national security?

seamus

is_that_so wrote: »

This stuff just goes from bad to worse. If she was a Democrat then much of this digging in the dirt would not be happening at all and they'd be carping at conservative sites for digging. It would be much more honest if some of these people just said "I hate Sarah Palin and I'm gonna do my damnedest to see she never gets near the White House".

The republicans have been involved in this kind of stuff for years. It's a pity the democrat's supporters have to stoop to this, but if seeing as the bar had been set so low already...

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

Does this suggest that Governor Sarah Palin is not very tech savvy, or even worse, that she is ignorant of the vulnerabilities of the web as pertains to technology and national security?

Unless she's going for a position which requires tech-savviness, I wouldn't really hold it against her. For many (if not most) people, the internet is something of a black box, which just "works". Even when the issues are pointed out, many people don't have the knowledge to realise or visualise the potential vulnerabilities of their online activities.

BenjAii

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

Does this suggest that Governor Sarah Palin is not very tech savvy, or even worse, that she is ignorant of the vulnerabilities of the web as pertains to technology and national security?

Oh no she's an expert; apparently you can see the Internet from Alaska.

Black Swan

seamus wrote: »

Unless she's going for a position which requires tech-savviness, I wouldn't really hold it against her. For many (if not most) people, the internet is something of a black box, which just "works". Even when the issues are pointed out, many people don't have the knowledge to realise or visualise the potential vulnerabilities of their online activities.

All due respect, but this is very disturbing indeed! I'm just an online web user, without the level of technological sophistication that you may have. But as a mere uni student in drama and film, most, if not all my friends and I are aware of how insecure Internet emails are in terms of their vulnerability to run-of-the-mill hackers. We would never put important financial, tax, or other confidential information over Yahoo or hotmail!

I would expect that the governor of one of the 50 states would be well versed in the basics of Internet security, especially as it pertains to confidential transmissions of State of Alaska business, way above us common student users. Furthermore, Sarah Palin is not running for just any office, but the second highest office in the United States of America. For some reason I would expect her to be a lot smarter than to do something like this!

seamus

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

All due respect, but this is very disturbing indeed! I'm just an online web user, without the level of technological sophistication that you may have. But as a mere uni student in drama and film, most, if not all my friends and I are aware of how insecure Internet emails are in terms of their vulnerability to run-of-the-mill hackers. We would never put important financial, tax, or other confidential information over Yahoo or hotmail!

I would expect that the governor of one of the 50 states would be well versed in the basics of Internet security, especially as it pertains to confidential transmissions of State of Alaska business, way above us common student users. Furthermore, Sarah Palin is not running for just any office, but the second highest office in the United States of America. For some reason I would expect her to be a lot smarter than to do something like this!

My tolerance is probably a function of having to deal with business people for the last five years and see how much of a clue they haven't got and can't seem to grasp.

For the most part, anyone under 30 has grown up with technology. I don't remember a time when home computers haven't existed in one form or another. There's a pretty significant experience gap between those who had an Atari 2600 when they were growing up, and those who still think of the future when they hear the word "microchip".

Without actually finding out whether Palin had been briefed on such security matters, you can't really say it's incredible that she wouldn't know about security. The concept doesn't even enter may people's heads. I'd say it would be more worrying if she had never been briefed on security matters as opposed to just being ignorant of them.

Black Swan

seamus wrote: »

I'd say it would be more worrying if she had never been briefed on security matters as opposed to just being ignorant of them.

An interesting question indeed!

alastair

Hmm - alleged hacker:

David Kernell
son of Democratic state 93rd district senator Mike Kernell (Tennessee)

sink

On a side note Gmail allows you to encrypt your inbox. Find more details in this thread.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055363357&highlight=gmail

Black Swan

From MSN Slate...
Hacking Sarah Palin
By Farhad Manjoo
Posted Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008, at 7:31 PM ET

"The Yahoo breach does raise a few questions about Palin's e-mail habits. Why was she using Yahoo?"

"Critics say she was taking a page from Karl Rove, who cooked up the idea of using an off-site e-mail address to confound investigations of his activities in the Bush administration. (In 2007, the White House admitted that Rove and other officials used Republican National Committee addresses for some of their correspondence; as a result, the White House said it couldn't track down a trove of e-mail messages requested by congressional investigators looking into those fishy U.S. attorney firings.)"

"Palin's e-mail policies do show a certain Rovian or perhaps Cheney-esque partiality for secrecy. The New York Times reported Sunday that shortly after she took office, Palin's aides discussed the benefits of using private e-mail accounts, with one assistant noting that messages sent to Palin's BlackBerry "would be confidential and not subject to subpoena."

"Wednesday's hacking episode proves that it's rather boneheaded to put state business on Yahoo. True, all e-mail addresses are vulnerable to hacking. But Yahoo is a big target—lots of people spend a lot of time trying to crack Yahoo accounts."

Hobbes

It appears that Obamas mail got hacked too.

Black Swan

Hobbes wrote: »

It appears that Obamas mail got hacked too.

Methinks that Hobbes has a sense of humour!:D

Ludo

Hobbes wrote: »

It appears that Obamas mail got hacked too.

:D

Pocono Joe

Funny how we can completely ignore such trival things like "STOLEN", and son of Tennessee State Rep. Mike Kernell (Democrat). Oh, the hypocrisy of it all!

alastair

Pocono Joe wrote: »

Funny how we can completely ignore such trival things like "STOLEN", and son of Tennessee State Rep. Mike Kernell (Democrat). Oh, the hypocrisy of it all!

If by ignore, you mean highlight, then yes - very funny.

Hobbes

Pocono Joe wrote: »

Funny how we can completely ignore such trival things like "STOLEN", and son of Tennessee State Rep. Mike Kernell (Democrat). Oh, the hypocrisy of it all!

No ones ignoring that. I am sure he will get his free trip to gitmo to find out about the terrorist group known as anonymous. Of course it is alleged at this time, but then innocent until proven guilty is so 1999.

Still doesn't distract from the fact she used a yahoo account to conduct government business.

Black Swan

Hobbes wrote: »

Still doesn't distract from the fact she used a yahoo account to conduct government business.

Well, no one in the Palin camp wants to address this, because it's embarrassing indeed.

Obama hoax: Now Hobbes, you would not put that hoax screen capture up just so the McCain-Palin true believers would get all excited as if it was real and not a fake? I just love the one called "Obamanable Snowman!":D;)

Jack Sheehan

I wish the title of the article was:
Palin hit by Big Truck of Internet.
or:
Palin falls down series of tubes.

GuanYin

can we have a source for the "suspected" hacker infor?

Jack Sheehan, those comments aren't very helpful to debate. Consider yoruself warned.

Jack Sheehan

GuanYin wrote: »

can we have a source for the "suspected" hacker infor?

Jack Sheehan, those comments aren't very helpful to debate. Consider yoruself warned.

Apologies.

Back on topic, The hackers were from 4Chan, that anonymous group. It was first posted on www.wikileaks.org but was later removed (I think). It was also removed from 4Chan.

Black Swan

GuanYin wrote: »

can we have a source for the "suspected" hacker infor?

On 2 April 2008 Michael Horowitz reporting for CNET News claimed that the Obama hack was an April Fools spoof. See link

Overheal

Aside from the partisanship which is wearing thin, why is Anonymous going after Palin? Isnt Scientology their M.O.?

She's not exactly the SecDef but using yahoo? come on. You'd think the Federal Gov't would insist on its own internal mail system. It wouldn't exactly cost thousands of dollars to implement or anything.

Black Swan

Overheal wrote: »

She's not exactly the SecDef but using yahoo? come on. You'd think the Federal Gov't would insist on its own internal mail system. It wouldn't exactly cost thousands of dollars to implement or anything.

Well, the Feds do have their own Intranet that is secure against most hackers, and it is available for use by Gov Sarah Palin if she wishes to use it. So why did she not use it?

She may want to maintain separation between Fed and State, and as Governor and chief executive of a state, this may have been her choice? Many state governments have their own secure Intranets, as do many corporations, and these are by far more secure than the very public Yahoo.

So this keeps us coming back to the same question over and over again, which critics of Palin have jumped upon with reasons that do not put her in the best light in terms of her intelligence, or being something less than web security conscious. The only defense I have heard from her Republican campaign advocates is that her privacy was violated, which may be true, but does not explain why she would not use a more secure method of transmitting state government emails over very public Yahoo.

So to restate some of the major questions in this thread:

• Why did Governor Sarah Palin use the very public and insecure Yahoo to transmit Alaska state government communications?
  
• Why has candidate Palin (or the Republican Party) failed to explain why Alaska state government emails were transmitted by Palin as Governor over relatively insecure Yahoo?
  
• What does this say about her as a candidate for the second highest office in a nation that is said to be computer and technologically more advanced than most of the 200 or so nations of the world?

Please answer these questions objectively, without political slur, or spin, because they are important to those not already committed to voting either Democrat or Republican.

Victor

seamus wrote: »

Without actually finding out whether Palin had been briefed on such security matters, you can't really say it's incredible that she wouldn't know about security. The concept doesn't even enter may people's heads. I'd say it would be more worrying if she had never been briefed on security matters as opposed to just being ignorant of them.

Deer Sarah,

wot r ur nukular codes?

W.

Jack Sheehan

Overheal wrote: »

Aside from the partisanship which is wearing thin, why is Anonymous going after Palin? Isnt Scientology their M.O.?

She's not exactly the SecDef but using yahoo? come on. You'd think the Federal Gov't would insist on its own internal mail system. It wouldn't exactly cost thousands of dollars to implement or anything.

Well being blunt, for the ****s and giggles? These aren't exactly al queda here, they're a bunch of bored blokes who happen to be very good at hacking things. Sarah Palin was just a random target.

Overheal

that brings up the other issue of computer literacy, which really equates to security literacy. I only hope they are given primers on computer security. When el pres doesnt know what a firewall is, that puts a wrinkle in my brow.