Hackers crack Palin's 'personal' e-mail account

Discussion in 'West Mall' started by MTF, Sep 17, 2008.

  1. MTF

    MTF 1,000+ Posts

    The Link

     
  2. Nacho

    Nacho 100+ Posts

    why can i never connect to the wikileaks website? haven't been able to for months.
     
  3. Dr Fear

    Dr Fear 500+ Posts

    The nerds have taken over.
     
  4. allweatherHorn

    allweatherHorn 1,000+ Posts

    I pray that it is God's will that these people be apprehended and punished.
     
  5. Huckleberry

    Huckleberry 1,000+ Posts

    Hackers should be punished. No doubt.

    But I find it an interesting turn of phrase that Palin's spokesperson is saying it was an invasion of her privacy when she was using the private e-mail account to conduct official public business.
     
  6. MTF

    MTF 1,000+ Posts


     
  7. Mr.Wizard

    Mr.Wizard 1,000+ Posts

    Basements across the country are aflame with activity, but the moms still want them to move out.
     
  8. Fried JJ Pickles

    Fried JJ Pickles 1,000+ Posts

    That sort of illegal invasion is a risk that modern politicians now face. This kind of threat is just something that didn't exist 10 years ago but will be with us from now on.
     
  9. RomaVicta

    RomaVicta 5,000+ Posts

    I have the same reaction as Huckleberry. My first reaction was that I don't want to read the email because it is private. My second reaction is that if this was supposed to be public, maybe I don't have such a problem with it.

    Palin, who I was not looking to dislike even if I wasn't going to vote for her, is beginning to smell as a candidate. It really does look like nobody in the McCain camp did much to look at the negative possibilities. After suckering the bait-chasing Dems to go after her, it seem like the GOPs may be the suckers in the end.
     
  10. Hayden_Horn

    Hayden_Horn 1,000+ Posts


     
  11. Seattle Husker

    Seattle Husker 10,000+ Posts

    Politicians are so naive. What's scary about this is that we know that members of the current Whitehouse admin have similar practices to avoid the public scrutiny. Dick Cheney and Karl Rove are shitting their pants about now.
     
  12. DigglerontheHoof

    DigglerontheHoof 1,000+ Posts

    I hate hackers and would personally love to beat the f**k out of all of them.

    That's why I NEVER put anything into an email I wouldn't mind the whole world seeing.

    Hackers are below tow truck drivers on the scum scale. Seriously, f**k those guys and everyone like them.
     
  13. VacantlyOccupied

    VacantlyOccupied 500+ Posts

    Hackers. [​IMG]

    I bet her password was hockeymom.

    I'm glad this happened. It's incredible to me that it's just commonly known that she's using her personal email account to conduct government business and she's not in a world of **** over it. It's also outrageous that she's using a relatively non-secure service for this. If her account was "hacked" and any government information was accessed, she should face legal consequences herself.
     
  14. MTF

    MTF 1,000+ Posts

    Rumor is that Palin set her "secret question" to be her zip code, which the hackers easily figured out and used to access her account.
     
  15. Stuck_At_Work

    Stuck_At_Work 1,000+ Posts

    I rank hackers and malicious virus coders somewhere near the bottom of the human totem pole....

    Here is a quick parallel. Some police officers have to deal with the scum of the earth - drug dealers, gang bangers, etc. Sometimes cops find themselves helpless against these criminals under their codes of conduct. However, every once in a while a 'bad cop' decides to take things into his/her own hands. They make their own rules and crack down on the filth... even if doing so means going against what is 'right'. The end result is less trash on our streets... Most of us don't agree with this use of reckless power, but we certainly turn a blind eye if the result is less crime.

    These hackers are the bad cops of the internet. They use illegal methods and then post their findings on sites like Wiki-links. They do it anonymously. They are tech vigilantes. In this case, they cracked down on Palin. Like bad cops, I don't condone their techniques... but I can't deny their results.
     
  16. Seattle Husker

    Seattle Husker 10,000+ Posts

    They got access and that's the juiciest stuff they could come up with? Overall, those email are pretty bland in nature.

    I can see the partisan attack ad now...

    "McCain admits he doesn't know how to use a computer. Palin doesn't respect the importance of data security. Do either have the competency to set future technology policies?" [​IMG]
     
  17. triplehorn

    triplehorn 2,500+ Posts

    Realize that this use of non-secure paths of communication for official business and/or classified information is precisely why there was so much alarm that the Bush White House was using RNC servers in TN to carry out their official business. They are not supposed to conduct official business outside of secure networks. They saw it as a way to avoid oversight and accountability yet at the same time were exposing their communications outside of secure WH networks to hackers.

    Now, here we have Palin using the exact same behavior to maintain secrecy and try to avoid exposure in the event of subpoena of official communications. It stinks to high heaven. If emails get leaked that are evidence of conduct consistent with patterns of abuse or professional misconduct, she will be toast. Yes, the hacking is reprehensible, but if such revelations hit the news, there will be no way to put the toothpaste back in the tube.

    .
     
  18. brntorng

    brntorng 2,500+ Posts

    Reports from those who have examined the emails indicate no state business whatsoever in her private email account. Aside from the felony committed in the hacking of her private account, there's nothing to see here.

    While we're at it, just to be fair, why don't we examine Obama's and Biden's private email accounts?
     
  19. Back to Texas

    Back to Texas 250+ Posts

    Interesting way that people spin a terrible act to criticize her using Yahoo! for "government business" when we have no idea if she did or not. If you are going to believe the veracity of a hacker's account with no evidence, then you're looking for a reason. In any case,I hardly call talking about a radio host and asking for prayers to be state secrets. I am not sure how this equates to the allegations Triple is making connecting it to the Bush admin use of RNC servers, but that's not surprising.

    I am going by the CW article and don't see anything here, but I am glad some folks have another reason to do what they were going to do anyways.
     
  20. triplehorn

    triplehorn 2,500+ Posts

    brntorng - I think you are wrong. It looks like Palin was conducting official government business using her yahoo email account. brilliant work.

     
  21. Mr.Wizard

    Mr.Wizard 1,000+ Posts

    Also interesting that all of those who are harsh critics of the Patriot Act, like the Daily Kos bloggers and such, are praising the hacker of Palin's account.

    Personally, I am against the Patriot Act and Palin's email being hacked.

    Just an observation.

    BTW, the Secret Service has to be all over this.
     
  22. triplehorn

    triplehorn 2,500+ Posts

    post 30 in the thread I linked:

     
  23. MTF

    MTF 1,000+ Posts

    Apparently, the hackers only released a small number of the e-mails. They either have more, or they were interrupted when another hacker changed the password.
     
  24. triplehorn

    triplehorn 2,500+ Posts

    MTF - well there was this at the bottom of the post immediately above:

     
  25. TahoeHorn

    TahoeHorn 1,000+ Posts

    triple,

    If you were CEO of Google (or some other high level Google execututive) what would you do?

    On a separate note I am enjoying these attempts to blame the victim. I hope that Dem sympathizers everywhere resort to this instinct. It will play real well out there, as have other attempts to trash her.
     
  26. triplehorn

    triplehorn 2,500+ Posts

    TH - I consider this a very serious matter. I fully understand and support aggressive attempts to shut down and trace the origins of this. I expect whoever did this already had their door kicked in by the FBI/Secret Service.

    This is bad. But it being reprehensible doesn't mean we can pretend nothing happened. If it ends right here and there is never any confirmation of it being her actual email account and possessed evidence of official business or not, I am fine with that.

    If it's confirmed it was an official break-in and part of the fallout of that is that it revealed she was violating official protocols by conducting official business on her yahoo account...again, how do you put the toothpaste back in the tube? Even if there is no further addressing the matter in public, it's just out there with Palin having to face the world as she talks about other things.

    .
     
  27. brntorng

    brntorng 2,500+ Posts

    triplehorn--the reports I saw from the press who read everything on the posted emails said there was no official business. There was a personal exchange with someone who happens to be on her staff, but it was only personal content. Perhaps there is more, but it's not like the hackers and their associates are the most reliable of sources.

    BTW, for anyone who has business and personal email accounts, it is very difficult to keep them completely separate. This is especially true if you have friends who are also business associates who don't necessarily use the proper account to email you depending on the topic. I'm just guessing, but I would suspect that virtually everyone is guilty of some intermingling of accounts to some degree despite efforts to avoid it. As a result, if there's some intermingling of her accounts and any government content in her personal account doesn't contain anything devious then I don't have a problem with it.
     
  28. WhitmanSampler

    WhitmanSampler 250+ Posts


     
  29. Ag with kids

    Ag with kids 2,500+ Posts

    This stuff is amusing...
     
  30. brntorng

    brntorng 2,500+ Posts

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