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Is Ron Paul running a botnet spam op? [legal questions, overseas support]
ZDNet ^ | 10-31-07 | Richard Koman

Posted on 10/31/2007 1:38:22 PM PDT by SJackson

Is Ron Paul running a botnet spam op?

Posted by Richard Koman @ October 31, 2007 @ 11:52 AM Categories: Elections Tags: Campaign, Wired Inc., Ron Paul, Gary Warner, E-mail, Productivity, Cyberthreats, Spam, Internet, Online Communications, Security, Spam And Phishing, Richard Koman

3 TalkBacks

Ron Paul is supposedly the right-wing answer to Howard Dean - a come-from-nowhere candidate who is taking the Internet faster than fire consumes Southern California. Only, it appears, he’s not. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birgmingham have determined that pro-Paul spam sent after the Republican debate Sunday was generated by a botnet.

And that, Gary Warner, UAB’s director of research in computer forensics, says makes it a blatantly “criminal act,” in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act. Wired quotes Warner:

“This is clearly a criminal act in support of a campaign, which has been committed with or without their knowledge. The question is, will we see more and more of this, or will this bring shame to the campaigns and will they make clear that this is not a form of acceptable behavior by their supporters?”

The spam messages boasted subject lines like:

Ron Paul Wins GOP Debate!
Ron Paul Eliminates the IRS!
Ron Paul Stops Iraq War!
Vote Ron Paul 2008!
Iraq Scam Exposed, Ron Paul
Government Wasteful Spending Eliminated By Ron Paul

Unlike generic spam messages from campaigns, these emails were fraudulently generated, showing they were from a Silicon Valley company or a Paul supporter in Houston, but in fact were generated from Brazil, El Salvador, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and Nigeria.

From the UAB press release:

We’ve seen many previous emails reported as spam from other campaigns or parties, but when we’ve investigated them, they all were sent from the legitimate parties.

In addition, CNBC recently took down a post-debate poll that showed Paul winning the debate at 75% levels. In a message on the CNBC website, political editor John Harwood defended the decision to take down the poll:

The numbers grew … 7,000-plus votes after a couple of hours … and Ron Paul was at 75%.

Now Paul is a fine gentleman with some substantial backing and, by the way, was a dynamic presence throughout the debate , but I haven’t seen him pull those kind of numbers in any “legit” poll. Our poll was either hacked or the target of a campaign. So we took the poll down.

The next day, our email basket was flooded with Ron Paul support messages. And the computer logs showed the poll had been hit with traffic from Ron Paul chat sites. I learned other Internet polls that night had been hit in similar fashion.

Given all this, it’s an open question as to whether the campaign is involved in all this online ballot-stuffing. Warner says there’s no reason to suspect the Paul campaign. And says Paul spokesman Jesse Benton:

“If it is true, it could be done by a well-intentioned yet misguided supporter or someone with bad intentions trying to embarrass the campaign. Either way, this is independent work, and we have no connection.

 

 


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: paulestinians; ronpaul

1 posted on 10/31/2007 1:38:24 PM PDT by SJackson
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To: SJackson

What the HELL does this Ron Paul spokesman mean -”we have no connection”? Of course they do, it’s their candidate.


2 posted on 10/31/2007 1:41:34 PM PDT by Baladas
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Comment #3 Removed by Moderator

To: Baladas
Wouldn’t be a hoot if there were only four Ron Paul nuts?
And each one is a wizard with a computer...
4 posted on 10/31/2007 1:43:56 PM PDT by ishabibble (ALL-AMERICAN INFIDEL)
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To: Baladas

Well, it’s probably not likely Ron Paul would KNOW if there is something sinister going on, but certainly some of the lower cronies might, and might have even set something like this up. It’s far more likely that some of the troll spammers that come here have set something up and are doing it without anyone’s knowledge.

I mean just look at the Pro-Paul kooks lately. Ron Paul is actually a pretty normal guy with some outlandish ideas. Nothing wrong with that, until his following of “Kooks” get involved in things.

Lemme see, Richard Hoagland (famous for his “Face on Mars”) stuff has his followers who do things that are bordering on downright evil, but he wouldn’t know about it. So, Folks with kooky ideas get kooks for followers.


5 posted on 10/31/2007 1:45:29 PM PDT by Rick.Donaldson (http://www.transasianaxis.com - Visit for lastest on DPRK/Russia/China/Etc --Fred Thompson for Prez.)
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To: Baladas

Whether it’s questionable ads or support from embarassing quarters, I’ve noted the Paul campaign is pretty much connected to nothing. In itself, no recomendation for an executive position above dogcatcher.


6 posted on 10/31/2007 1:46:29 PM PDT by SJackson (every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, none to make him afraid,)
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To: SJackson

SJackson,
We can’t post Wired articles.


7 posted on 10/31/2007 1:48:01 PM PDT by mnehrling (Ron Paul is to the Constitution what Fred Phelps is to the Bible.)
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To: Baladas

“What the HELL does this Ron Paul spokesman mean -”we have no connection”? Of course they do, it’s their candidate.”

They very well may have no connection because his supporters are out of control. What is the likelihood that some of those raving lunatic moonbats who follow him would actually ask for permission to do such a thing?

What this demonstrates is Paul getting fleas for lying down with the anti-war dogs. His following is out of control.


8 posted on 10/31/2007 1:49:01 PM PDT by L98Fiero (A fool who'll waste his life, God rest his guts.)
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To: L98Fiero
What this demonstrates is Paul getting fleas for lying down with the anti-war dogs. His following is out of control.

Which is why I would never support him. Support the war on Iraq, and the war on terror -- you support AMERICA. Don't support it and you give aid and comfort to the enemy. Plain and damned simple. You're either WITH us, or you're WITH THE TERRORISTS. Damn. Can't people get that yet?
9 posted on 10/31/2007 2:07:22 PM PDT by Rick.Donaldson (http://www.transasianaxis.com - Visit for lastest on DPRK/Russia/China/Etc --Fred Thompson for Prez.)
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To: SJackson
Check out this post out from the RP website I found:
It is easy.. our meetup has some tools that are pretty cheap. We use ipipi, you can send several thousand messages for about $100 and the best part is because it doesn't use phone numbers, it bypasses poll secuirty.
Ron Paul Forum
10 posted on 10/31/2007 2:13:51 PM PDT by ravingnutter
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To: mnehrling; Rick.Donaldson

Thanks, I though they pulled this thread and reposted it, I see now only the post.


11 posted on 10/31/2007 2:14:04 PM PDT by SJackson (every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, none to make him afraid,)
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To: SJackson
It was fixed. Should have only been the Wired post. Copyright problem with them.
12 posted on 10/31/2007 2:14:50 PM PDT by mnehrling (Ron Paul is to the Constitution what Fred Phelps is to the Bible.)
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To: SJackson

This has hit national. Fox news just picked it up:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,307056,00.html


13 posted on 10/31/2007 2:17:42 PM PDT by mnehrling (Ron Paul is to the Constitution what Fred Phelps is to the Bible.)
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To: SJackson
MSNBC is pimping Ron Paul yet again, trying anything to boost his prospects in Iowa, and throw the GOP race into chaos. Is this a coincidence given Hillary's 24-hour PR nightmare?

Their front page:

Meanwhile, Paul remains in single digits in Rasmussen's latest poll. But don't let that stop the MSM.

14 posted on 10/31/2007 2:18:33 PM PDT by montag813
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To: ravingnutter
From there:

‘Wait a minute. I hope you are not telling me that you somehow voted for RP multiple times...? The poll will not allow it, and that is our only defense against their accusations. If you found a loophole, please do not exploit it. It does not help our cause.

I do concur, however, that he stumbled on some answers and almost seemed nervous at times. His last answer was KICK-ASS though.’

It’s not like HE is doing this or supporting this. It’s not him wanting to grant citizenship to illegals or give them a drivers license.

Come on, every campaign has freaks and nutters. They eventually grow up.

15 posted on 10/31/2007 2:20:39 PM PDT by BGHater (Lead. The MSG for the 21st Century.)
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To: coconutt2000; ElkGroveDan; oneamericanvoice; Allegra; HawkeyeRepublican; Master Shake; ...

Original thread here


16 posted on 10/31/2007 2:21:18 PM PDT by SJackson (every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, none to make him afraid,)
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To: mnehrling

You remember that post I sent you a while back that I thought was a Paul site? The one that ultimately came out to you as a computer geek sight? Interesting.


17 posted on 10/31/2007 2:23:13 PM PDT by crazyshrink (Being uninformed is one thing, choosing ignorance is a whole different problem.)
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To: BGHater
"Come on, every campaign has freaks and nutters."

Nice try, but every campaign DOES NOT have freaks and nutters.

The Prawn Paul 08' campaign has set an extremely high bar now for kooks, nuts and idiots who attach themselves to a campaign.

Howard Dean had the title last.

18 posted on 10/31/2007 2:35:12 PM PDT by lormand ("Ron Paul and his flaming antiwar spam monkeys can Kiss my Ass!!"- Jim Robinson, Sept, 30, 2007)
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To: SJackson

I remember receiving some of this spam mail.


19 posted on 10/31/2007 2:35:31 PM PDT by notpoliticallycorewrecked (There is room in this world for all of God's creatures right next to the mashed potatoes.)
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To: SJackson
And my bet is that the online poll effort of the the Ron Paul Revolution is a worldwide phenomenon.

     

20 posted on 10/31/2007 2:35:32 PM PDT by drpix
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To: L98Fiero; All

Ron Paul’s responses have been weak - the best you get is the “we weren’t aware, but we’ll look into” answer by some Paul aide.

But, no, this wasn’t done by somebody in order to make “Dr. Paul look bad” - that’s simply ridiculous - I’m not a Hillary supporter, so I wouldn’t spam pro-Hillary propoganda to frame her in some convoluted scheme. Would you?


21 posted on 10/31/2007 2:35:58 PM PDT by Baladas
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To: SJackson
Don't mind me. I'm just grabbing the popcorn here, and cracking open a Leinie's, enjoying the meltdown.

A 72-year-old great-grandfather running rings around the establishment. Dat Paul, he's er hoot!

22 posted on 10/31/2007 2:39:30 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: SJackson

No problem :)


23 posted on 10/31/2007 2:40:04 PM PDT by Rick.Donaldson (http://www.transasianaxis.com - Visit for lastest on DPRK/Russia/China/Etc --Fred Thompson for Prez.)
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To: lormand

Actually, you made the point for the other poster. LOL. Every campaign has some kind of kooky thing going on. Might NOT be the candidates themselves, but SOMEONE is. lol


24 posted on 10/31/2007 2:41:40 PM PDT by Rick.Donaldson (http://www.transasianaxis.com - Visit for lastest on DPRK/Russia/China/Etc --Fred Thompson for Prez.)
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To: Rick.Donaldson

I wonder how many people have given any thought to what would realistically happen on the near impossible chance that Paul ended up in the white house.

Personally I suspect we would see almost no change. He would be isolated from both parties and made completely ineffective.

As far as ending the war is concerned, I wouldn’t count on it. The democrats simply aren’t going to make him into a hero of the left. It simply won’t happen. The republicans would continue to fight it every step of the way. He won’t abolish the IRS or withdraw all our troops from around the world. He wouldn’t be a king or a dictator. He would be about as effective as the president of Israel and nothing more than a one term figurehead.

In the end, I think a Ron Paul presidency would drive us even further from our constitution.


25 posted on 10/31/2007 2:43:32 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Greed is NOT a conservative ideal.)
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To: Baladas

“But, no, this wasn’t done by somebody in order to make “Dr. Paul look bad”

I don’t think it was either. I’m saying it was done by his out of control moonbat followers. The spam I get for Viagra isn’t from Pfizer. It’s from some other jerk trying to sell me Viagra. Same thing with these Paul spams. They are not from Paul but they are from his jerk followers trying to “sell” him.

“Ron Paul’s responses have been weak-”

That’s because he’s a poor excuse for a politician.


26 posted on 10/31/2007 2:43:53 PM PDT by L98Fiero (A fool who'll waste his life, God rest his guts.)
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To: Rick.Donaldson
"Support the war on Iraq, and the war on terror -- you support AMERICA. Don't support it and you give aid and comfort to the enemy. Plain and damned simple. You're either WITH us, or you're WITH THE TERRORISTS. Damn. Can't people get that yet?"

Amen bro!

27 posted on 10/31/2007 2:48:23 PM PDT by lormand ("Ron Paul and his flaming antiwar spam monkeys can Kiss my Ass!!"- Jim Robinson, Sept, 30, 2007)
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To: cripplecreek

Honestly, I can’t see Ron Paul as President. He’s got too many problems, and not enough real “oompf” I guess.

As for the IRS? Well, it ain’t going anywhere, too many people in Congress are or were, lawyers. That makes it difficult for them to make it go away. There are certainly a few great ideas on “taxes” out there, but I don’t think ANY President can just “Executive order” it away. It’s so complex now that it’s imbedded in our infrastructure in this country.

We DO need taxes, but we don’t need taxes put on us to the point that I am paying 30 % of my income in. I’m considered a “rich” person by the left (because my wife and I together make a bit of dough). But the problem is that the left wants to tax the crapola out of the “rich”. There’s no DISTINCT line of “rich and poor” in this country.

So, don’t matter WHO the President is, taxes aren’t going away any time soon. It’s going to be CONGRESS that has to reform it. If Congress doesn’t do something about it, nothing will ever happen.


28 posted on 10/31/2007 2:58:20 PM PDT by Rick.Donaldson (http://www.transasianaxis.com - Visit for lastest on DPRK/Russia/China/Etc --Fred Thompson for Prez.)
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Ron Paul Campaign Under Cyber Attack

http://www.nolanchart.com/article259.html

The recently reported spam emails that are believed to originate from a botnet do the Ron Paul campaign direct harm not good.

by Michael McDonnough
(Libertarian)

There has been a recent flurry of news articles that have made the conjecture that the Ron Paul campaign or his supporters are in possession of a botnet and are using it to generate spam emails for the candidate. I have been in the business of computer technology for a long time and have good friends in the IT security business and we have discussed this at length. Cui-bono (who benefits)

I find it far more likely that this botnet spam attack is not the design of the Paul campaign or any of its supporters. It is far more likely that this is the release of a first round of direct cyber attack against the Ron Paul campaign. I base this opinion on the fact that the attack is becoming clearly targeted at the youtube videos of Ron Paul. Youtube links to his videos are beginning to be inserted of the body of these spam message and as a direct result the video’s are being pulled by youtube for violation of their terms of use policy. Source: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/more-on-ron-pau.html

This attack method can do far more harm than good for the Ron Paul campaign so I will make a guess that this is the work of those in the NSA using cyber war tactics out of loyalty or possibly under orders to use this stealth attack method to derail the Ron Paul campaign by using the campaign’s online strength against them.

I expect that after these attackers have used this method to remove the best google and youtube videos touting the Ron Paul campaign that the attack method will change and will go after other key components of the campaign’s online strength such as the Web 2.0 communities. These utilities will likely be spammed and the organizations using the applications will be banned from their use.

This is nefarious and demonstrates the kind of tactics that the establishment could use to serve their interest in stopping the advance of Ron Paul and the Revolution for freedom that he is leading as well as his Presidential bid. I can only hope that the Ron Paul online army has some equally talented cyber warriors that can help stop this attack before it is ramped up even further.


29 posted on 10/31/2007 6:17:31 PM PDT by SJackson (every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, none to make him afraid,)
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To: SJackson
Ron Paul Supporters Hacking PCs? Nov 1st, 2007 by Michael van der Galiën

Wired reports that “according to computer-security researchers who’ve analyzed a recent flurry of e-mail supporting” Ron Paul, supporters of the Congressman have hacked PCs worldwide in order to make online support for him look bigger than it really is.

...snip-wired article...

If true, these supporters do more harm than good. It’s stupid to think you can do this and get away with it. Funny enough, some Paul supporters (see the comment section at Wired) automatically accuse opponents of Paul of conspiring against him because he’s ‘dangerous,’ etc. Even a spokesman of the Paul campaign said: “If it is true, it could be done by a well-intentioned yet misguided supporter or someone with bad intentions trying to embarrass the campaign.”

Ok, just stop it. Paul isn’t big enough for people to launch a campaign like that. He’s a politician. Not a Revolutionary. Most people aren’t afraid of him, they simply disagree with his politics. There’s no ‘conspiracy’ going on against Paul. He simply hasn’t convinced enough people that his plans are right for America. That’s not a conspiracy, it’s called disagreement.

O, and the last time we wrote about Paul we saw that Stormfront linked to us and that some of its readers left comments here. Guess what; you’re not welcome here. “It’s the Jews’ fault!” doesn’t work well here, and “banking” hasn’t got anything to do with it either. We simply don’t want racists to comment on this site.

30 posted on 11/01/2007 7:43:42 AM PDT by SJackson (every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, none to make him afraid,)
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To: SJackson

If you are getting Ron Paul Spam it’s because you’ve visited nefarious Ron Paul sites. /s


31 posted on 11/01/2007 7:48:36 AM PDT by CJ Wolf
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To: Rick.Donaldson

Wow. According to the latest Rasmussen polls, 64% of Americans are WITH THE TERRORISTS!

We’ve met the enemy, and he is us! The peasants have revolted! (with apologies to BC)


32 posted on 11/01/2007 1:40:42 PM PDT by publiusF27
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To: publiusF27

WEll, that makes sense then. 64% of the people in America are on the LEFT, misinformed, uninformed, or are anarchists. That means when the elections happen we’ll see 40% voting Republican, 40% voting Democrat, around 8% swaying the vote one way or the other, and the rest being no-shows at the booths.

Wow. Didn’t change much from last time did it?


33 posted on 11/01/2007 2:31:49 PM PDT by Rick.Donaldson (http://www.transasianaxis.com - Visit for lastest on DPRK/Russia/China/Etc --Fred Thompson for Prez.)
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