Palin's Private E-mails Hacked, McCain Campaign Shocked

[LakeShow]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/palins-private.html

Political Punch


Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper



http://a.abcnews.com/images/site/blog/redesign07/blog_tapper62107.jpg (http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=127673&page=1) Jake Tapper (http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=127673&page=1) is ABC News' Senior National Correspondent based in the network's Washington bureau. He writes about politics and popular culture and covers a range of national stories.



Palin's Private E-mails Hacked, McCain Campaign Shocked

September 17, 2008 6:13 PM
As Gawker reports (http://gawker.com/5051193/sarah-palins-personal-emails), the private yahoo e-mails accounts of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have been hacked.
“This is a shocking invasion of the governor’s privacy and a violation of the law,” said McCain campaign manager Rick Davis in a statement. "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."
As we covered yesterday (http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/how-transparent.html), Palin has used her private e-mail account to conduct official business and, like members of the Bush administration before her, has attempted to use this as a way to avoid the very transparency she pledged would mark her gubernatorial term.

[ploto]

Palin has used her private e-mail account to conduct official business

This is the woman to reform the way politics operates?

[Supergirl]

I love the internet.

try and keep secrets, if you're not really really good at it, you'll be exposed. wish someone had figured out how to hack karl rove or dick cheney's email...

[LakeShow]

This is the woman to reform the way politics operates?

Experts Don't Yahoo! Over Palin's E-Mail Practices


Palin's Email Habits Echo Worst Practices of Bush Administration Says Expert


By JUSTIN ROOD
Sept. 18, 2008
http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/showlogos/carousel_blotter_logo.gif
It's not a great idea to run a government using Yahoo! e-mail accounts.

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/palinmail_080918_mn.jpg Gov. Sarah Palin's e-mail habit of using a private account to communicate with aides echos the worst practices of the Bush administration, says one expert.
(ABCNews Photo Illustration)

That's the word from experts, anyway, reacting to news that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's Yahoo! e-mail had been hacked earlier this week. (http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/palins-private.html) McCain's vice-presidential pick reportedly (http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/526281.html)used the accounts to communicate with key aides about government business.

The practice is dangerous, said experts, and can run counter to laws ensuring government is open and accountable -- a tough point for Palin, who has made "open government" a catchphrase of her political identity.

By using non-governmental email systems, "Your information is out there available, beyond the official mechanisms there to protect it," said Amit Yoran, the nation's first cybersecurity chief. Yoran is now CEO of Netwitness Corp., a computer security firm for government and private entities.



When she's communicating about government programs, that information is not being protected with the typical precautions the government has put in place in its own risk management process," said Yoran.

Moreover, a hacked account could be used to falsify communications, noted Yoran – a point proven by one of the hackers, who used Palin's account to send a message to one of her assistants.

Two Yahoo! email accounts belonging to Palin were hacked early Tuesday by a group calling itself 'Anonymous'. Screen shots of her inbox were posted online, as well as a screenshot showing an email of an apparently personal nature from a Palin appointee to the governor.

Palin's use of the private account to discuss public business – a practice reportedly shared by her top aides – also raised concerns from open-government advocates, who fear the practice could impede the spirit of laws designed to preserve government communications and documents.

Recently, Palin's office has fought to withhold some emails from public release, saying they were exempt from disclosure because state law protected certain categories of communication, such as those related to the "deliberative process."

Palin's E-mail Problem

A state spokesman for Palin has defended the practice, saying "I don't hear any public clamor for access to internal communications of the governor's office," and blaming the issue on "some people out there blogging and talking who would like to embarrass the governor."

The McCain-Palin campaign responded to inquiries about Palin's email practice with a written statement. "This is a shocking invasion of the Governor's privacy and a violation of law," read the statement, from campaign manager Rick Davis. "The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these emails will destroy them. We will have no further comment."
Lawyer Meredith Fuchs of the Washington, D.C.-based National Security Archive has experience on this issue, having fought with the Bush White House over how it preserved emails, and why it allowed key personnel to use private email accounts controlled by the Republican National Committee. She believes Palin's email habits echo the worst practices of the Bush administration.


Government email systems typically have safeguards to preserve communications specifically for open-records purposes. "I don't know what Yahoo's policy is" on how long it saves emails, particularly after they're deleted by the user, said Fuchs, who doubted they were preserved.

That parallels the problems with White House personnel sending email through the RNC. Many of their emails "just don't exist anymore," said Fuchs. "This is very similar."

Fuchs – and open-government advocates in Alaska – worry that may be part of the governor's intent. "Maybe they did it because they thought the records wouldn't be disclosed," said Fuchs. "That raises issues possible destruction of evidence issues – if they expected litigation."

[101A]

Damn.

We know more about what Palin does, or ever did, on a day to day basis than damn near any politican out there. Does Biden ever discuss govt. business with a private email account, does Obama, does McCain? We don't know. Has anyone asked? If it is so important, why not?

[Viva Las Espuelas]

well i think the main gaffe here is over yahoo's security, but of course attack the obvious.

[DarkReign]

Damn.

We know more about what Palin does, or ever did, on a day to day basis than damn near any politican out there. Does Biden ever discuss govt. business with a private email account, does Obama, does McCain? We don't know. Has anyone asked? If it is so important, why not?

uhhh, because all have been elected to federal office?

Hmmm, all 3 are current office holders?

Biden has been in government since McCain and theyre combined age is older than Earth itself?

McCain and Obama especially just got off their respective primaries, which outlined their positions on numerous issues and ample time for the press, blogs, partisans and haters to dig as far and as deep as their scummy hands deemed necessary?

While Palin has been in the national spotlight for about, ooohhhhh, 7 mins?

Just guesses.

[101A]

uhhh, because all have been elected to federal office?

Hmmm, all 3 are current office holders?

Biden has been in government since McCain and theyre combined age is older than Earth itself?

McCain and Obama especially just got off their respective primaries, which outlined their positions on numerous issues and ample time for the press, blogs, partisans and haters to dig as far and as deep as their scummy hands deemed necessary?

While Palin has been in the national spotlight for about, ooohhhhh, 7 mins?

Just guesses.

Talking personal lives; email habits specifically.

Has anyone asked Obama, McCain, or Biden if they have a non-governmental email account which they use for official business? It is apparently important.

[LakeShow]

Hackers Access Palin's Personal E-Mail, Post Some Online

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/09/17/PH2008091704006.jpg
This screenshot from Gawker.com shows e-mail from an account that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin used for official business. (Associated Press)

By Michael D. Shear and Karl Vick (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/michael+d.+shear+and+karl+vick/)
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 18, 2008; Page A04

A group of computer hackers said yesterday that they had accessed a Yahoo (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Yahoo!+Inc.?tid=informline) e-mail account of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Sarah+Palin?tid=informline), the Republican vice presidential nominee, publishing some of her private communications to expose what appeared to be her use of a personal account for government business.

The hackers posted what they said were personal photos, the contents of several messages, the subject lines of dozens of e-mails and Palin's e-mail contact list on a site called Wikileaks.org. That site said it received the electronic files from a group identifying itself only as "Anonymous."

"At around midnight last night some members affiliated with the group gained access to governor Palin's email account, '[email protected]' and handed over the contents to the government sunshine site Wikileaks.org," said a message on the site.

Rick Davis (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Rick+Davis?tid=informline), the campaign manager for Republican presidential nominee John McCain (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/m000303/), issued a statement yesterday afternoon condemning the incident.

"This is a shocking invasion of the Governor's privacy and a violation of law," he said. "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."

The episode focuses attention on Palin's use of her personal e-mail account as lawmakers in Alaska look into whether she fired the state's public safety commissioner, Walter Monegan (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Walter+Monegan?tid=informline), because he refused to take action against her brother-in-law, a state trooper at the time.

Palin has been criticized in recent days for using a personal e-mail account to conduct state business. An Alaska activist has filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking disclosure of e-mails from another Yahoo account Palin used, [email protected].

That account appears to have been linked to the one that was hacked.
Both accounts appear to have been deactivated. E-mails sent to them yesterday were returned as undeliverable.

Andrée McLeod, who filed the FOIA request, said yesterday evening that Palin should have known better than to conduct state business using an unsecured e-mail account.

"If this woman is so careless as to conduct state business on a private e-mail account that has been hacked into, what in the world is she going to do when she has access to information that is vital to our national security interests?" she asked.

McLeod's Anchorage attorney, Donald C. Mitchell, said Palin declined to comply with a public records request in June to divulge 1,100 e-mails sent to and from her personal accounts, citing executive privilege.

"There's a reason the governor should be using her own official e-mail channels, because of security and encryption," the attorney said. "She's running state business out of Yahoo?"

McCain officials did not return calls and e-mails seeking further comment on the hacking and McLeod's remarks.

The images of the Yahoo inbox posted by hackers are stippled with the names of Palin aides using both official and private e-mail addresses.
Among the e-mails released as part of the records request in June were several from Ivy Frye, an aide, asking a state official whether private e-mail accounts and messages sent to BlackBerry (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/BlackBerry+Mobile+Devices?tid=informline) devices are immune to subpoena, then reporting the answer to the governor and her husband, Todd, who also uses a Yahoo e-mail address.

One referenced "Draft letter to Governor Schwarzenegger (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Arnold+Schwarzenegger?tid=informline)/Container Tax" and another said "DPS Personnel and Budget Issues," an apparent reference to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

Michael Allison, chief executive of the Internet Crimes Group, a private company specializing in Internet security, said the hackers may have accessed Palin's account by using publicly available information to guess her password, or by using a small program called a trojan to capture her keystrokes.

"I would hope the authorities would be all over this," Allison said. "The only deterrent is that people know the certainty of being caught."

[DarkReign]

well i think the main gaffe here is over yahoo's security, but of course attack the obvious.


Wait? What? :lmao

How do you think her email was "hacked"?

I havent read anything about this group (big thinking here with this name) Anonymous, but I think you should know the most common way email's are hacked.

Wait for it......wait for it....






They guessed!

Thats right ladies and gentlemen, your email is as secure as your dumbass makes it! All a person needs is your email address, then they use the numerous programs out there where you enter a person's information (name, birthday, birth place, etc....all common knowledge of a public official) and it randomizes entries.

It doesnt even require a backdoor in Yahoo, just a direct interface with the login server (so as it doesnt time out).

Give that program enough time and a decent internet connection, and sooner or later it will find your login info.

Hell, they could have done something even simpler.....send her a keylogger as an attachment and have it send its info back thru the Yahoo account!

Voila.

[DarkReign]

Michael Allison, chief executive of the Internet Crimes Group, a private company specializing in Internet security, said the hackers may have accessed Palin's account by using publicly available information to guess her password, or by using a small program called a trojan to capture her keystrokes.

what do ya know...

damn yahoo.

[Crookshanks]

The person they are questioning is the son of a Tennessee state Senator - who just happens to be a democrat!

IF she used the personal email account inappropriately, then investigate through proper channels - it doesn't give ANYBODY the right to hack into her personal emails and post them and family pictures on the internet!

[clambake]

The person they are questioning is the son of a Tennessee state Senator - who just happens to be a democrat!

IF she used the personal email account inappropriately, then investigate through proper channels - it doesn't give ANYBODY the right to hack into her personal emails and post them and family pictures on the internet!

ok, so whats the procedure? do we pray for or against the sinner? do we pray that no palin secrets were revealed or for the secrets TO BE revealed?

[Nbadan]

Oh the surveillance irony...another GOP irony alert...

What does Sarah Palin have to hide in her Yahoo e-mails?

The same authoritarians who cheered on every last illegal act of the Bush surveillance state today cry over the sanctity of e-mail privacy.
Glenn Greenwald


Sep. 18, 2008 | Some adolescent criminal (in mentality if not age) yesterday hacked into a Yahoo account used by Sarah Palin for both personal and business email, and various sites -- including Gawker -- posted some of the emails online. While the bottom layers of the right-wing noise machine (the kind that make you run for the shower after reading them) are moronically describing the hacker(s) as "liberals" and "left-wing," nobody actually has any idea of their identity, let alone their political leanings (if any). The available evidence strongly suggests the hacker is loosely part of an assorted band of Internet pranksters ranging from the juvenile to the psychopathic. Conventional political agendas ("Vote Obama!") don't exactly appear to be their interest. Either way, whoever did this committed a serious crime -- it's rather revolting to see screen shots of someone's inbox splattered across the Internet -- and the hacker should be apprehended and prosecuted.

Still, it's really a wondrous, and repugnant, sight to behold the Bush-following lynch mobs on the Right melodramatically defend the Virtues of Privacy and the Rule of Law. These, of course, are the same authoritarians who have cheered on every last expansion of the Lawless Surveillance State of the last eight years -- put their fists in the air with glee as the Federal Government seized the power to listen to innocent Americans' telephone calls; read our emails; obtain our banking, credit card, and library records; and create vast data bases of every call we make and receive and every prescription we fill and every instance of travel and other vast categories of information that remain largely unknown -- all without warrants or oversight of any kind and often in clear violation of the law.

The same political faction which today is prancing around in full-throated fits of melodramatic hysteria and Victim mode (their absolute favorite state of being) over the sanctity of Sarah Palin's privacy are the same ones who scoffed with indifference as it was revealed during the Bush era that the FBI systematically abused its Patriot Act powers to gather and store private information on thousands of innocent Americans; that Homeland Security officials illegally infiltrated and monitored peaceful, law-abiding left-wing groups devoted to peace activism, civil liberties and other political agendas disliked by the state; and that the telephone calls of journalists and lawyers have been illegally and repeatedly monitored.

And the same Surveillance State Worshipper leading today's screeching -- Michelle Malkin -- spent the last several years deriding those who objected to the President's illegal spying program as "privacy crusaders" and "constitutional absolutists" and "civil liberties absolutists".

Shouldn't these same people be standing up today and insisting that if Sarah Palin has done nothing wrong, then she should have nothing to hide? If Sarah Palin isn't committing crimes or consorting with The Terrorists, then why would she care if we can monitor her emails? And if private companies such as Yahoo can access her emails -- as they can -- then she doesn't really have any "privacy" anyway, so what's the big deal if others read through her communications, too? Isn't that the authoritarian idiocy that has been spewed since The Day That 9/11 Changed Everything -- beginning with the Constitution -- to justify vesting secret and unchecked surveillance powers in our Great and Good Leaders?

And then, even better, there is the righteous outrage over the fact that this hacker engaged in what they call . . . . "illegal surveillance." Why, whoever broke into Palin's Yahoo account broke the law, and we all know that that can't be tolerated! Bill O'Reilly last night called for the FBI to arrest not only those who did the hacking, but also those who own and manage Gawker ("a despicable, slimy, scummy website"), simply for posting the emails. This is what O'Reilly said:

It's a felony -- a federal crime -- also a crime in Alaska -- to hack into people's private correspondence . . . We have no privacy left in this country anymore. The website knows the law, and says "you know -- I'm going to do it anyway. I dare you to come get me."

Indeed. What kind of grotesque monster would invade people's private communications even though they know it's illegal to do that? It's almost like this despicable criminal-hacker did something like this -- from Scott Horton's Harpers interview yesterday with The Washington Post's Barton Gellman:

Greenwald, Salon (http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/18/privacy)

[Clandestino]

nbadan...ever the dumbass... the government doesn't want to post everyone's e-mail for all to see.

[Crookshanks]

nbadan...ever the dumbass... the government doesn't want to post everyone's e-mail for all to see.
EXACTLY! Also, I've yet to hear of anyone who's been victimized by the Patriot Act; even though the libs were screaming that it was the end of the world.

Also, it's important to note that the only ones the govt. is interested in are those individuals who were communicating with our enemies, i.e. the terrorists. No one in the govt is hacking into personal emails just for grins.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

EXACTLY! Also, I've yet to hear of anyone who's been victimized by the Patriot Act; even though the libs were screaming that it was the end of the world.
.

So you missed that whole DOJ report from last year that the FBI illegally obtained info on U.S. citizens' records from telecom companies?

[Wild Cobra]

So you missed that whole DOJ report from last year that the FBI illegally obtained info on U.S. citizens' records from telecom companies?

One of my points all along about personal rights intrusion is that someone will do it weather legal or not. How would the patriot act not being passed have eliminated such an attack on personal rights? I don't fear the patriot act itself. I fear the individual with lack of morals (like the hacker) who would simply have an easier tool to use. They will do it anyway.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

I fear the individual with lack of morals (like the hacker) who would simply have an easier tool to use. They will do it anyway.

Or certain people within the FBI.

[DarkReign]

Or certain people within the FBI.

Or the DOJ.

[Oh, Gee!!]

password: mooseburger

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password: hockeymom

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password: pitbull

access granted