Sarah Palin's email account hacked

[ayzo]

Oh those crazy hackers...

A few creenshots of the account are on the site:

http://blogs.artvoice.com/techvoice/2008/09/17/hackers-break-into-sarah-palins-inbox/


This is breaking news, so stay tuned for details as more are available… but it appears the infamous group of cyber-mischief makers “anonymous” are up to their old tricks, and this time they had Governor Palin in their sights.

While this has not been completely confirmed, it seems that some time over night or early this morning, somebody was able to compromise “gov.palin@yahoo.com,” by apparently discovering the password to the account. The password was posted to a public forum - and a field day ensued. Within a short time, another “anonymous” had changed the password on the account to effectively lock everybody else out, and later this morning the account had been locked by Yahoo all together.

Just last week, the Washington Post published an article about Sarah Palin’s use of this very same Yahoo e-mail account. Palin’s use of a public e-mail service rather than the secure state e-mail system raised some eyebrows, as she was potentially communicating about sensitive matters, off the record, on a third party service. Arguing that she should be using the secure and encrypted state e-mail system, an activist in her state had called for the release of her e-mails.

Well, it looks like lawyers won’t be necessary, as “anonymous” might have done the job for them.

The images below were posted to a Photobucket account owned by a user named “anoncrack.” They include a message to Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell, a message of encouragement from Amy McCorkell (a member of Palin’s Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse in Alaska), general screen shots of Palin’s inbox, a message from the “anonymous” who apparently tried to close off access to Palin’s inbox, and some family photos that were found in attachments.

[JP135]

Ever wonder why qualified leaders avoid getting into politics? Its like painting a target on themselves for every dipshit in the world to take pot-shots at.

I cannot stand Obama but I dont want to see his personal stuff posted online any more than I want to see Palin's.

[Magnus]

Ever wonder why qualified leaders avoid getting into politics? Its like painting a target on themselves for every dipshit in the world to take pot-shots at.

I cannot stand Obama but I dont want to see his personal stuff posted online any more than I want to see Palin's.
I wish they would post his personal info online, so we can see all the "kill whitey" emails between him and wright, and maybe some "when we will bomb america" emails from terrorist groups over seas. :)

Completely fictitious hope of mine, of course. :)

[Paladin]

I hope this leads to them being found. I wouldn't be happy if Biden or Obama got hacked, so I am not happy about Palin.

[Mustangman_2000]

That's absurd. I hope the hackers are found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Geez....Freaking parasites trying to hack into your life and exploit every little bit of minutia they can find.

Political life sucks.

[Paladin]

I guess they found out who did it, and he is an elected Democrat's son.

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The FBI searched the residence of the son of a Democratic state lawmaker in Tennessee over the weekend looking for evidence linking the young man to the hacking of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press on Monday.

David Kernell, 20, has not returned repeated phone calls or e-mails from the AP since last week. His lawyer said Monday the family is going through a difficult period.

"The Kernell family wants to do the right thing, and they want what is best for their son," said attorney Wade V. Davies of Knoxville. "We are confident that the truth will emerge as we go through the process. David is a decent and intelligent young man, and I look forward to assisting him during this difficult period."

Kernell is the son of state Rep. Mike Kernell, a Memphis Democrat and chairman of Tennessee's House Government Operations Committee. The father declined last week to discuss the possibility his son might be involved in the case.

"I had nothing to do with it, I had no knowledge or anything," Mike Kernell told the AP last week.

"I was not a party to anything of this nature at all," he added. "I wasn't in on this — and I wouldn't know how to do anything like that."

No one answered the door at Mike Kernell's home in Memphis on Monday, and he did not return repeated phone calls Monday from the AP.

The apartment the FBI searched is in a complex about five blocks from the University of Tennessee campus in a neighborhood popular with students. No one around the complex Monday knew David Kernell or saw the FBI agents over the weekend.

A hacker last week broke into one of the Yahoo Inc. e-mail accounts that Palin uses, revealing as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate. The McCain campaign confirmed the break-in and called it a "shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law."

Palin used "gov.sarah" in one of her Yahoo e-mail addresses she sometimes uses to conduct state business. The hacker targeted her separate "gov.palin" account.

During the break-in, the hacker used an Internet address that traced to David Kernell's apartment complex in Knoxville. The FBI obtained logs Saturday establishing the connection from Gabriel Ramuglia of Athens, Ga., who operates an Internet anonymity service used by the hacker.

Ramuglia told the AP the FBI asked him to confirm the address appeared in his records, and it did. Ramuglia said his logs showed the hacker visiting Yahoo's mail service, resetting Palin's password and announcing results of the break-in on a Web site where the hacking was first disclosed.

"I think he just didn't realize the severity of what he was doing until afterwards," Ramuglia said.

After the break-in, a person claiming responsibility published a detailed chronology of the hacking on the same Web site. That person identified his e-mail address as one that has been linked publicly to David Kernell.

As a lawmaker, Mike Kernell, 56, was among a handful of Democrats to vote against the Tennessee governor's health plan because he said it wasn't expansive enough. He also opposed a recent increase in the cigarette tax because he felt the proceeds should have been directed toward health care instead of education.

Kernell was also among five House members who voted against a sweeping overhaul of state ethics laws in 2006. He said the new law's limits on cash contributions hurts candidates seeking smaller donations.

Kernell has a straight-laced reputation among his colleagues.

"Mike Kernell is your quintessential Boy Scout," said state Rep. John Deberry, another Democrat. "Mike follows the rules. He will almost get on your nerve as far as making sure things are done by the book."

"If Mike had known anything about this, he would have had a fit on his son," Deberry said. "When I saw his reaction when he first heard about it, the absolute fear and shock that was on his face, I realized then he had absolutely nothing to do with it."

Experts said the hacker apparently left an easy trail for investigators.

"He might as well have taken a picture of his house and uploaded it," said Ken Pfeil, an Internet security expert. "He should have just set up a big beacon that said, 'Here's my house,' or confessed. If they can't catch this guy based on all the information posted on the Web then all bets are off."

The hacker described guessing correctly that Alaska's governor had met her husband in high school, and knew Palin's date of birth and home Zip code. Using those details, the hacker tricked Yahoo's service into assigning a new password, "popcorn," for Palin's e-mail account. What started as a prank was cut short because of panic over the possibility the FBI might investigate, the hacker wrote.

The FBI and Secret Service are now investigating.

The law enforcement officials confirming the search spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

In Washington, Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney confirmed Monday only that the FBI conducted "investigative activity" late Saturday and early Sunday in Knoxville related to the case.

David Kernell is an economics major at the University of Tennessee there.
____

Associated Press writers Ted Bridis in Washington, Erik Schelzig and Lucas L. Johnson II in Nashville, Tenn., and Beth Rucker in Knoxville contributed to this report.

[Mustangman_2000]

I'm glad they figured out who it was.

Desperation makes for an ugly election year. I can't wait until it's done and over. I don't think I've every seen such degree of slime before during an election period. This has been the ugliest I've seen in a long time. You really see the nasty side of human nature during an election. Which is rather ironic if you think about it. It makes us look really bad as a society and as human beings.

[Fox466]

What is the tally on 'dirty pool tricks' at this point? Left vs right...

[ceyko]

I'm sorry, I don't consider guessing someone's password - hacking. I put that more along the lines of social engineering.

With that said, if your password is that easily guessed you sort of have it coming sooner or later. Hopefully the Whitehouse IT department enforces better passwords.

Take care,

[Vertnut]

What is the tally on 'dirty pool tricks' at this point? Left vs right...
It's all ugly. I still wonder who put the 20-year-old up to this. If it was "accidental" or innocent, then why did he post it on a site that pays for that type of info? I think someone (FBI?) needs to dig around a while, and see what's up. I don't know if I would prosecute, but I would make him think I was until it all got sorted out.

[black01gt]

That was pretty quick. Makes you wonder why they can't find 20 million illegal aliens.

[GhostTX]

I'm sorry, I don't consider guessing someone's password - hacking. I put that more along the lines of social engineering.

With that said, if your password is that easily guessed you sort of have it coming sooner or later. Hopefully the Whitehouse IT department enforces better passwords.

Take care,
Looks like he used the security questions for resetting a password. True, hardly the espionage-type bouncing through several servers with encrypted software Hollywood-style hacking, but if some one broke into your online bank account merely "guessing" your password...I'm still gonna say you got hacked.

[Paladin]

I'm sorry, I don't consider guessing someone's password - hacking. I put that more along the lines of social engineering.

With that said, if your password is that easily guessed you sort of have it coming sooner or later. Hopefully the Whitehouse IT department enforces better passwords.

Take care,

Come on now, by that standard if I leave my car unlocked it is my fault that my stuff gets stolen because it was easy? What happened to people knowing right from wrong?

[Paladin]

That was pretty quick. Makes you wonder why they can't find 20 million illegal aliens.

Hell, I know where a bunch of them are here in FW. I have been running across them for about 20 years and no one ever has cared at the federal level.

[ceyko]

Come on now, by that standard if I leave my car unlocked it is my fault that my stuff gets stolen because it was easy? What happened to people knowing right from wrong?

In this day and age it is your fault. Especially knowing how things are on the Internet. It's not like you're leaving your pickup unlocked in the country somewhere.

[Paladin]

In this day and age it is your fault. Especially knowing how things are on the Internet. It's not like you're leaving your pickup unlocked in the country somewhere.

Pretty sad commentary that someone thinks I am at fault because a thief decided to steal my stuff.

[Fox466]

Pretty sad commentary that someone thinks I am at fault because a thief decided to steal my stuff.

Yeah, well, if you hadn't tempted him with all that stuff he wouldn't have stolen it!





Agreed. That line of reasoning is idiotic at best.

[Paladin]

Yeah, well, if you hadn't tempted him with all that stuff he wouldn't have stolen it!





Agreed. That line of reasoning is idiotic at best.

Yeah, if I didn't want my shit stolen I should have not worked hard, paid for it, and left it in my vehicle while that poor thief had no choice but to steal it!

How dare Palin for having her password hacked, if she didn't want her emails sent out she should have stayed off the internet!