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Hackers have broken in to the e-mail of the US Republican vice-presidential candidate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.The hackers, who targeted a personal Yahoo account, posted several messages and family photos from her inbox.
The campaign of running mate John McCain condemned their action as "a shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of the law".
You think she would have been more careful, but hey a few years ago, she was a small town mayor, and had no clue that she would be thrust in the spot light, and be held accountable for everything she did since conception.
Up here in the great white north, we also have an election, and the big internet news is about the "pooping puffins" (yeah do a Google search on that one).
The interesting part, is that she should not have been using a public account for government business. So there may be political fallout to come.
she must have been aware people would try to hack into her account.It probably never crossed her mind or anybody else in politics. Only techies know the extent of hacking attempts; politicians have other skillsets. (And yes, I realize that statement is wide open for sarcastic comebacks! ;) )
Details of this week's break-in, if authentic, were consistent with speculation by computer security experts who said Yahoo's "forgot-my-password" service almost certainly was exploited. The mechanism allows customers to retrieve or change their password if they can verify their identity by confirming personal information such as birthdate, zip code and the answer to a "secret question," such as a childhood pet's name or school mascot.Palin's hacker was challenged to guess where Alaska's governor met her husband, Todd. Palin herself recounted in her speech at the Republican National Convention that the pair began dating two decades ago in high school in Wasilla, a town near Anchorage.
"I found out later though (sic) more research that they met at high school, so I did variations of that, high, high school, eventually hit on 'Wasilla high'," the person wrote.
Hilarious, all the answers were public knwledge. All you needed was the email address.
Yahoo's "forgot-my-password" service almost certainly was exploited
The reason she used Yahoo was to keep her state business emails hidden, a grindingly stupid way to shield them from being subpoenaed.
Is that not illegal for a serving politician ( "candidate" or otherwise ) under current US law ? if so "anonymous" should be applauded for bringing her actions to light ..
Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy. The governor and her top officials sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records.
The hacker said that he read all of the e-mails in the Palin account and found "nothing incriminating, nothing that would derail her campaign as I had hoped. All I saw was personal stuff, some clerical stuff from when she was governor…. And pictures of her family.
discussions as to the backing or not of candidates for appointees to government positions etc etc ...isnt "personal stuff, some clerical stuff from when she was governor" ..
Using a Y account so as to avoid subpeonas ..makes me think of "Tricky D" and the "blanks" in the tapes ..
Why do the stridently moralistic ones in any society and particularly politicians always turn out to be the ones with the skeletons in their closets and the ones who try hardest to hide their own acts from the light ?
This is ALREADY a political discussion (though somewhat subdued), which is exactly what would be expected considering the subject matter.
I've been periodically involved in political campaigns all my adult life, starting in my teen years), and in fact have actually done extensive volunteer and precinct work for candidates in the past. But no election I can recall has been what could be called upsetting - until now.
This molehill/mountain is relatively minor compared to some of the REAL issues that are getting glossed over by the media. Without getting more political than this thread already is, I have to say that this is the first national election that literally has me totally SCARED, *regardless* of the outcome.
[edited by: Marcia at 2:29 am (utc) on Sep. 19, 2008]
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[edited by: engine at 3:47 pm (utc) on Sep. 19, 2008]
[edit reason] Politics [/edit]
Obviously, we can't keep politics out of this discussion, which is about the account being hacked.
Thanks for the contributions.
