Posted on 09/17/2008 9:42:56 PM PDT by Kaslin
Left-wing internet hackers have been credited for illegally breaking into GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s email.
Members of what has been described as the “cyber vigilante” group Anonymous broke into Palin’s personal Yahoo email account and uploaded stolen information to the Internet. Gawker.com, a highly trafficked gossip site, took five screenshots of the stolen cache and promoted it on their site.
The screenshots included two full emails and Palin’s inbox list. In one email Palin was critical of a talk radio host who was giving her Lt. Governor, who is currently running against Don Young for Congress, a hard time over tax issues. In the other, a woman who Palin named to the state’s drug and alcohol advisory board sent prayers to Palin and told her not to let the “negative press wear you down."
Personal family information was obtained as well. A photo of baby Trig Palin was found in the email cache, uploaded from daughter Bristol Palin's cell phone and sent to her mother's email account. Bloggers at Gawker lifted Bristol’s cellphone number from the emails and called it to confirm it was hers. They recorded audio of Bristol’s voicemail and promoted it on their site. Gawker bloggers also reprinted Palin's husband Todd's and son Track's personal email addresses.
Left-wing operatives have been seeking Palin’s personal emails in relation to the “Troopergate” controversy, in which Palin’s foes believed she abused her power as Alaskan Governor to fire one of her political appointees. Palin recently released official email communication, but has refused to make her private emails publicly available to the chagrin of those seeking to bring her down in the inquiry.
Nothing in the emails appears to be politically damaging to Palin.
McCain-Palin 2008 Campaign Manager Rick Davis issued a statement calling the email hackery “a shocking invasion of the Governor's privacy and a violation of law.” He expressed hope that “anyone in possession of these emails will destroy them.”
Federal law strictly prohibits anyone from accessing email without proper authorization, but is unclear how those would be treated who make those emails publicly available.
Gawker knows full well the information was illegally obtained and stands by their blog posts. “Here are the screenshots of the emails saved before the account went dark, along with the contact list. It’s newsworthy and we will not be taking it down!” the site said.
More coverage of this story on the Townhall Blog.
I sure hope we get to see some moonbats go to prison in the near future. Maybe they’ll do us a favor and put them in the same cell with Ben Dover.
Bwaha. DUmmie catastrophe of the century.
Stealing baby pictures and harassing a 17 year old girl’s cellphone is the best they could do.
Pff, for all anybody knows, it could be an insider at Yahoo. Funny thing is, if they did find anything potentially incriminating, they most likely rendered it completely inadmissible as evidence. Any decent attorney could, and should, claim the material was planted there by the hackers.
But this all does bring up a good point. Folks probably don’t know just how left-of-left-of-left many tech businesses are. If Google had their way, they’d be China. You think Yahoo would be any different? Ha. I bet if you look at the top 100 on Obama’s donor list, and take out Liberal Hollywooders, you’d have a pretty good sampling of the top tech companies.
You forgot the rule: any of Amanda Carpenter’s writings must be accompanied by her photo.
I used to troll the chans a long time ago, there’s no proof the person who did this was left-wing... it was probably a high school or college kid that got bored... it’s more like clockwork orange than brownshirting...
This is just over the top. These losers need to go to jail.
The stuff's still up there on their site, so I guess nobody really cares. Sad.
Anyone with information on those folks can contact Secret Service by phone at the nearest local field office. Try: http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/field_offices.shtml
Is there any such thing as conservative “right wing” hackers? I wish there were. I wish the left and it’s lying minons were being exposed everyday on the net and in the media.
Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/18/palin_email_investigation/
Not quite Anonymous
Posted in Security, 18th September 2008 01:22Â GMT
Memo to law enforcement investigators tracking down who broke into Sarah Palin's Yahoo email account: Gabriel Ramuglia might be a good place to start.
The 25-year-old webmaster and entrepreneur is the operator of Ctunnel.com (http://ctunnel.com/), the browsing proxy service used by the group that hacked into the vice presidential candidate's personal email account and exposed its contents (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/17/anonymous_hacks_sarah_palin/) to the world. While he has yet to examine his logs, he says there's a good chance they will lead to those responsible, thanks to some carelessness on their part.
"Usually, this sort of thing would be hard to track down because it's Yahoo email, and a lot of people use my service for that," he told El Reg in a phone interview. "Since they were dumb enough to post a full screenshot that showed most of the [Ctunnel.com] URL, I should be able to find that in my log."
Ramuglia got into the proxy business a few years ago, after schools began blocking access to an online game site he used to co-own. Pretty soon, people began using the proxy service to access YouTube, Gmail, MySpace, and dozens of other sites that are routinely blocked by IT departments.
To prevent abuse of the service - such as the occasional bomb threat or other illegal act that's been known to happen - Ramuglia logs each user's IP address, along with the time and web destination. That often isn't enough to track down people who access extremely popular websites. But in this case, the perpetrators included a whole string of random-looking characters when posting screenshots of Palin's hacked account. That will probably be enough for him to pinpoint the proverbial needle in the haystack.
The information at the moment is on a server at a Chicago colocation site owned by FDC Servers (http://www.fdcservers.net/). Logs are automatically flushed after seven days, so the clock is ticking for law enforcement, who presumably are under intense pressure to protect the privacy of a candidate for the White House. Of course, there's always the possibility that Ctunnel.com was only one of multiple anonymization services the email hackers used to cover their tracks, but there's only one way to find out.
Ramuglia said if he is contacted by law enforcement officials he will probably give them the information they seek. At time of writing, he's received no inquiries from any law enforcement agencies, he said.
The breach of Palin's account "is pretty clearly against my terms of service," he said. "As exciting as it is to be in the news, this is not the type of activity I can encourage by any means." ®
Trafficking in stolen information. They have to know who posted that information, so that would also be conspiracy after the fact.
Sound to me that there should be a criminal investigation of these leftist thugs.
Mark
“I used to troll “
Naw.... really?
That must be a new rule, but I will try to remebber the next time
A little snip from a post by the hacker.
Found on michellemalkin.com
“I really wanted to get something incriminating which I was sure there would be, just like all of you anon out there that you think there was some missed opportunity of glory, well there WAS NOTHING, I read everything, every little blackberry confirmation… all the pictures, and there was nothing”
Find them. Put them in prison for unlawful hacking.
It is impossible to “bust” Anonymous. Anonymous is an avatar of the collective Internet, a faceless manifestation of Chaos, not some group with a clubhouse and secret handshake. These “hackers” are just script kiddies from /b/ doing it for the lulz.
Most /b/tards aren’t old enough to vote, and couldn’t care less about politics anyway. They just enjoy effing stuff up for the fun of it. You should see what they did to Habbo Hotel and the Scientologists...
It appears that the individual responsible did a very poor job concealing his identity. A few google searches reveal enough information that I’m sure this guy is getting phone calls about this as we speak...er, type.
“Is there any such thing as conservative “right wing” hackers? I wish there were. I wish the left and it’s lying minons were being exposed everyday on the net and in the media.”
There is evidence of a left winger but moderators are keeping his name from being posted until it is nailed down a little better.
They said the single hacker will be easy to track because he posted screen caps with his info. This guy is in deep trouble.
Yeah, probably from criminal defense attorneys looking for a high profile client, which is what that individual is about to become.
this is what the AP is focusing on in an article on eastvalley tribune.
Hackers break into Sarah Palin’s e-mail account
By TED BRIDIS
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hackers broke into the Yahoo! e-mail account that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used for official business as Alaska’s governor, revealing as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate.
The Secret Service contacted The Associated Press on Wednesday and asked for copies of the leaked e-mails, which circulated widely on the Internet. THE AP DID NOT COMPLY.
(Can they refuse the secret service?)
this is what they choose to focus on instead, her “propriety”
The disclosure Wednesday raises new questions about the propriety of the Palin administration’s use of nongovernment e-mail accounts to conduct state business. The practice was revealed months ago - prior to Palin’s selection as a vice presidential candidate - after political critics obtained internal e-mails documenting the practice by some aides.
O
ping
What do you think, pro bono or maybe defense fund like that clown Gary McKinnon?
this is what the AP is focusing on in an article on eastvalley tribune.
Hackers break into Sarah Palin’s e-mail account
By TED BRIDIS
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hackers broke into the Yahoo! e-mail account that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used for official business as Alaska’s governor, revealing as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate.
The Secret Service contacted The Associated Press on Wednesday and asked for copies of the leaked e-mails, which circulated widely on the Internet. THE AP DID NOT COMPLY.
(Can they refuse the secret service?)
this is what they choose to focus on instead, her “propriety”
The disclosure Wednesday raises new questions about the propriety of the Palin administration’s use of nongovernment e-mail accounts to conduct state business. The practice was revealed months ago - prior to Palin’s selection as a vice presidential candidate - after political critics obtained internal e-mails documenting the practice by some aides.
O
I’m sure there will be some “foundation” that represents him for free, because, you know, it should be perfectly acceptable for anyone to invade anyone else’s privacy, unless they are aborting a child or taking calls from suspected terrorists abroad.
Info is on Wikileaks and Gawker
this is what they choose to focus on instead, her “propriety”
- Right. Her account is hacked and the first thing the AP publishes attacks the victim. I guess the AP thinks this is the Pentagon Papers or some such. Why doesn’t the AP rename itself the DNCAP?
The Gawker website should be fined and the owner prosecuted. There is a way to report on the story without putting up the emails that were hacked, and they know it.
...and just like with Hitler’s Nazis in the 1930’s this was probably orchestrated by Obama and his henchmen but they will deny, deny, deny and then use it as a pretext for tighter social controls once they get into power. With the Weimar atmosphere on Wall Street...the only thing that’s missing is a burning of the Reichstag and then a rounding up of dissenters, but hey, 2009 sounds like a good year for that. Make way for America’s Dark Age.
BOR, who seems strangely mesmerized by Obama, is furious over this. He said they should all go to jail, and says he is going to push the FBI etc over this.
Bill has certain things that set off his alarms. One is personal privacy. This did not make him happy.
Governor Palin’s personnel address book was revealed as we as Bristol’s cell number.
This is the hackers personnel account of his stunt.
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/09/17/the-story-behind-the-palin-e-mail-hacking/
I find it interesting Yahoo has not issued a statement in regard to this matter.
I hope Rubico like waterboarding : )
It's beyond contempt.
Aren't they in possession of stolen property?
If you've seen Yahoo's front page for the last couple of weeks,,,
it's obvious that Yahoo (like the MSM) is also 'in the tank' for Hussein BIG TIME.
I was reading several news stories about this earlier, in the comments section, many Yahoo users were stating they were closing their accounts.
I thought the account that was hacked was her PERSONAL Yahoo e-mail account!
I went there, and was grimly amused that these "champions of internet privacy" were furious over the hacking of Palin's mailbox.
Why were they furious? Was it because of this illegal violation of privacy?
Hell no. They were furious that the hackers at /b/ only managed to obtain such a tiny amount of information, only downloading and posting a couple of the emails' contents, before the mailbox was shut down, and they fretted that some "smoking guns" in those other emails that could destroy Gov. Palin may have been bypassed. Others were cursing that the account's password wasn't handed over to someone more worthy, who could stealthily monitor Gov. Palin's private mailbox between now and the election, looking for anything useful to destroy her with.
Here's a typical despairing comment (this one from gawker.com): The power to bring down the McCain campaign was in the mountain dew coated hands of a 17 year old hacker. What could have possibly gone wrong?
Apparently the original hacker only got a little ways into viewing the mailbox before trumpeting his triumphant accomplishment on his favorite website. Some "good samaritan" saw the posting soon after, and logged in and changed Sarah's p/w, then sent an email to a close friend on Sarah's contacts list to tell her to warn Sarah. He then inadvertently posted the new password on that same website (he didn't notice it was in a screenshot he posted). But soon after, so many hackers tried to simultaneously login to Gov. Palin's yahoo email account that yahoo apparently locked the account for 24 hours. (And it's now been deleted).
Here's an interesting exchange on reddit.com: I thought Redditors were supposed to be proponents of online privacy?
Reply to above: There is a subtle difference in that the email account was used for official government business, making it part of public record. It doesn't make it right, but it's not the same thing exactly.
("Doesn't make it right"? What then? "Shades of right"?)
Another reply to the first guy: There's a subtle difference here that you're missing. When private files are monitored or simply handed over and you have no choice or in the matter or no way to fight against it, then we take issue. When you're dumb enough to use a free email account with sh**ty security settings and someone burns you on it, then you just got owned.
Great reply to that reply: ...or alternatively ... When it's convenient for me I believe X, when it's convenient for me I also believe NOT X. When someone points out the contradiction I justify it by saying there's a "subtle difference" they haven't understood. This way I can do whatever I want, whenever I want and I feel no psychological discomfort when I contradict my own moral and ethical framework.
Going back to the discussion at gawker.com, here's another telling quote: On the one hand, wow. Awesome. On the other hand... this won't do much to dissuade her supporters of the persecution complex they've developed of late, now will it?
That, my friends, is as close as a liberal will ever come to admitting that they've done something wrong!
And here is a sad, sad, sad posting: Ok, sad thing first: a good Samaritan reset the password and tried to alert Sarah. But he also posted the new password, causing multiple people to try to log in at once, freezing the account for 24 hours. And now, the account has been deleted!
How tragic. You're all allowed to break out the tissue box and saw away on your Air Violins.
I noticed that a lot of weblinks that were purported to have copies of the stolen documents did NOT have them, just hours after people posted links to them. Obviously a lot of sys admins want no part in a lawsuit or police action, no matter how remote the possibility is, and are shutting down those "mirrors". But Gawker.com was a glaring exception, and even reveled in publishing the documents as well as a recording of Bristol Palin's voicemail greeting.
I kept refreshing their webpage to see who was advertising there. Virtually all the ads were for resident "artists" pushing mostly ridiculous-looking photoshopped art, but then an ad for an upcoming movie "Choke" popped up. I clicked on it, and it took me to foxsearchlight.com. Under an article pushing all their upcoming movies I posted this comment:
Hello, The only reason I am here is because I see you support (through your advertising dollars) gawker.com, the website which proudly displays Gov. Palin's hacked emails, her private email contacts list, private family photos, her daughter's private cell phone number, and more.
Apparently you have no problem using $$ to support illegal invasions of privacy. In consequence, I will do nothing now or in the future to support you.
I have noted your upcoming movies: Choke, Secret Life of Bees, Notorious, Slumdog Millionaire, My Life In Ruins, Amelia, and 500 Days of Summer, and will make it a point to not see any of them, and to forward this information to like-minded people, requesting they not patronize your movies as well.
I am willing to change my mind, and occasionally will revisit to see if you are redirecting your advertising $$ elsewhere.
Good day.
No response as of yet, 5 hours later.
There are two kinds of hacker.
WHITE HAT hacker:
A person who enjoys learning details of a programming language or system
A person who enjoys actually doing the programming rather than just theorizing about it
A person capable of appreciating someone else’s hacking
A person who picks up programming quickly
A person who is an expert at a particular programming language or system, as in “Unix hacker”.
Steve Job is a hacker. Bill Gates is a hacker. You can call me right-winger and I can consider myself a hacker but not someone who would crack password of someone else private e-mail account and post its contents in the Internet.
The term hacker is used in popular media to describe someone who attempts to break into computer systems. Typically, this kind of hacker would be a proficient programmer or engineer with sufficient technical knowledge to understand the weak points in a security system, i.e., a BLACK HAT hacker. Kevin Mitnick was a BLACK HAT hacker, by the way.
I am a down to earth guy who believes in law and order. I’m not prone to believe in conspiracies. And I believe truth wins over evil. But having experienced the likes of Clinton who would defile the Oval Office rug, Obama who introduced me to his “God d*#@ America” “reverend”, Harry “the war is lost” Reed, and the rest of the double-talking, vindictive, and self-serving Democrats like Pelosi, Charlie R, and Barnie, I now believe there has become an underground network of judges, politicians, left-wing businessmen, community organizers, newspaper editors, and beady-eyed professors who make it nearly impossible for good people to get justice. We are screwed if these bastards take over in January.
Heck, look at the witch hunts the morons in Congress conducted against oil companies, microsoft, baseball, and the list goes on. But where is the zeal to investigate and prosecute wrong-doing at Fanny Mae?
Left-wing internet hackers have been credited for illegally breaking into GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s email.
Members of what has been described as the “cyber vigilante” group Anonymous broke into Palin’s personal Yahoo email account and uploaded stolen information to the Internet. Gawker.com, a highly trafficked gossip site, took five screenshots of the stolen cache and promoted it on their site.
The screenshots included two full emails and Palin’s inbox list. In one email Palin was critical of a talk radio host who was giving her Lt. Governor, who is currently running against Don Young for Congress, a hard time over tax issues. In the other, a woman who Palin named to the state’s drug and alcohol advisory board sent prayers to Palin and told her not to let the “negative press wear you down."
Personal family information was obtained as well. A photo of baby Trig Palin was found in the email cache, uploaded from daughter Bristol Palin's cell phone and sent to her mother's email account. Bloggers at Gawker lifted Bristol’s cellphone number from the emails and called it to confirm it was hers. They recorded audio of Bristol’s voicemail and promoted it on their site. Gawker bloggers also reprinted Palin's husband Todd's and son Track's personal email addresses...
One way to get rid of the channers for good is simply flood the chans with moles. Hell, I used to troll there just to get dirt on the chans before I got bored and decided that life with my girlfriend was worth more than bothering a bunch of nerdy manga fanboys.
This is political terrorism, different only in terms of severity from burning a cross on a politician’s lawn to scare them or any other Republican.
“(Can they refuse the secret service?)”
Unless served with a subpoena, the AP can absolutely refuse the Secret Service. Even if subpoenaed, the AP may refuse to hand over the emails in order to protect their source. Of course, that kinda move can land someone at AP in the clink.
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