[Vision2020] [Bulk] Re: Hacker Tricks Yahoo, Gets Access to Palin's e-mails

[Paul Rumelhart]

I disagree with this.  Sure, breaking into people's personal accounts is 
wrong.  I don't think they should be made an example of, though, because 
they managed (possibly by accident) to show that Palin really was using 
personal accounts to get around the "sunshine" laws that require 
official correspondence to be kept for a significant period of time.  
She even reprimanded one government employee for emailing to her 
official account, and according to the Times officially set up her 
personal accounts in order to evade subpoenas.

So, prosecute the hacker, fine.  I don't think someone should be made an 
example of because they managed to break some weak password resetting 
security questions.  Save your anger for the person using Yahoo to get 
around the law so that they can keep what they are doing a secret from 
the people they govern.  You could argue that because she did this she 
no longer has the moral right to keep her personal email private.

Besides, calling this person a "hacker" is like calling one of those 
"World's Stupidest Criminals" a criminal mastermind.  I won't even get 
started on the misuse of the term "hacker" by the media, that one's been 
done to death.

Paul

lfalen wrote:
> Right on
> -----Original message-----
> From: Tom Hansen thansen at moscow.com
> Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:37:50 -0700
> To: vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: [Vision2020] Hacker Tricks Yahoo, Gets Access to Palin's e-mails
> our lack of
>   
>> In my opinion, this hacker should be prosecuted to maximum extent of the 
>> law.  If this hacker is not made an example of (since these exploits have 
>> been published nationally), hacking into people's private emails will be 
>> looked at as nothing more than a prank.  BULL SH*T!
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> >From The Tennesseean at:our lack ofour lack of
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/443a3p
>>
>> -------------------------
>>
>> Hacker tricks Yahoo, gets access to Palin's e-mails
>>
>> Tenn. rep says blogs point finger at his son
>>
>> By TED BRIDIS
>> Associated Press 
>>
>> WASHINGTON — Details emerged Thursday behind the break-in of Republican 
>> vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's e-mail account, including a 
>> first-hand account suggesting it was vulnerable because a hacker was able 
>> to impersonate her online to obtain access to the account.
>>
>> The hacker guessed 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 Inc.'s service into assigning a new 
>> password, "popcorn," for Palin's e-mail account, according to a chronology 
>> of the crime published on the Web site where the hacking was first 
>> revealed.
>>
>> The FBI and Secret Service launched a formal investigation Wednesday. 
>> Yahoo declined to comment Thursday on details of the investigation, citing 
>> Palin's privacy and the sensitivity of such investigations.
>>
>> The story took an unexpected turn Thursday, when Rep. Mike Kernell, a 
>> Memphis Democrat, confirmed that his son, a student at the University of 
>> Tennessee, was the person who was the subject of speculation on blogs on 
>> the subject.
>>
>> David Kernell is a student at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Mike 
>> Kernell said he spoke to his son on Thursday, as he does on a regular 
>> basis.
>>
>> Kernell said he had no knowledge of an investigation or whether 
>> authorities contacted his son, though he said he had not personally been 
>> contacted by investigators.
>>
>> Kernell otherwise declined to comment, or discuss his son's whereabouts. 
>> Kernell's son did not respond to an e-mail request for comment.
>>
>> Action started as a prank
>>
>> The person who claimed responsibility for the break-in did not respond 
>> Thursday to an e-mail inquiry from The Associated Press.
>>
>> "i am the lurker who did it, and i would like to tell the story," the 
>> person wrote in the account on the Web site where the hacking was first 
>> revealed. What started as a prank was cut short because of panic over the 
>> possibility the FBI might investigate, the hacker wrote.
>>
>> Investigators were waiting to speak with Gabriel Ramuglia of Athens, Ga., 
>> who operates an Internet anonymity service used by the hacker. Ramuglia 
>> said Thursday that he was reviewing his own logs and promised to turn over 
>> any helpful information to authorities because the hacker violated rules 
>> against using the anonymity service for illegal activities.
>>
>> "If you're doing something illegal and causing me issues by doing this, 
>> I'm willing to cooperate," Ramuglia said. "Obviously this is the most high 
>> profile situation I've dealt with."
>>
>> The break-in of Palin's private account is especially significant because 
>> Palin sometimes uses nongovernment e-mail to conduct state business. 
>> Previously disclosed e-mails indicate her administration embraced Yahoo 
>> accounts as an alternative to government e-mail, which could possibly be 
>> released under Alaska's Open Records Act.
>>
>> At the time, critics of Palin's administration were poring over official e-
>> mails they had obtained from the governor's office looking for evidence of 
>> improper political activity.
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Seeya at Farmers' Market, Moscow.
>>
>> Tom Hansen
>> Moscow, Idaho
>>  
>> "We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college 
>> students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."
>>
>> - Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)
>>
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------
>> This message was sent by First Step Internet.
>>            http://www.fsr.com/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>     
>
> =======================================================
>  List services made available by First Step Internet, 
>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
>                http://www.fsr.net                       
>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================