Is it wrong that I read this and thought “man, what a missed opportunity!”?
Palin should be thanking her lucky stars. If she’d been hacked by a SMART person, they’d have stayed in there for the next six weeks reading her email, and she’d never have known it had been compromised. They could have gathered all kinds of incriminating stuff that could then have been posted online a week before the election. And if the person had been ambitious, they could have sent emails posing as her to other people, potentially getting them to incriminate themselves in relation to the Troopergate scandal.
That’s a very good point. She got hacked by probably the least damaging person imaginable. This could have gone a lot worse for her. A LOT worse.
Yeah. VP to be trusted with Nuclear launch codes outsmarted by 12 year old /b/ - tards. 0-day launch code torrentz! ROFLCOPTER!
ha ha
that’s hilarious.
No, something like this happening to Republicans is just a joke. Now if the /b/tards had hacked Obama or Biden’s email it would have been Watergate 2 directed by a veritable legion of doom consisting of Dick Cheney, the NSA and whatever “Megacorporations” you dislike, with innocent kids employed as scapegoats/patsies, and would be proof positive that the Republicans have forever put an end to freedom in this country.
I’m sure some nutjobs on the left would do just that. Just like how some nutjobs on the right (hi desslock!) apparently believe the DNC or the Obama campaign was directing 4chan’s /b/ to do this – I bet they also made them attack scientology!
Actually, on one of the liberal blogs, I saw some leftwing nutjobs blaming this on republican operatives. Their theory was they had infiltrated /b/ (hah!) and set up this bungled hack that found nothing juicy so Palin would have an excuse to delete her email accounts. This way, they’d be gone if anyone demanded to see them.
There’s no shortage of idiots out there.
That’s a pretty scandalous accusation, if they’re trying to say that Obama uses a Mac.
Find me an actual equivalent to the ridiculous scenario you’re positing here. There’s a difference between actual evidence and no evidence.
It wasn’t even a hack. One guy used Wikipedia and Yahoo’s “Forgot Your Password?” service to get access.
If anyone should take anything away from this it’s that official government business should not be done through fucking YAHOO, no matter how many subpoenas you think you might have to avoid in the future.
The laughable 9/11 “truther” BS.
A great article on that subject:
How is that not a hack?
American Heritage Dictionary, definition 3b:
“To gain access to (a computer file or network) illegally or without authorization: hacked the firm’s personnel database.”
“Hack has several meanings in the technology and computer science fields. It may refer to a clever or quick fix to a computer program problem, or to a clumsy or inelegant solution to a problem. The term is also used to refer to a modification of a program or device to give the user access to features that were otherwise unavailable, such as DIY circuit bending. The general media also uses this term to describe the act of illegally breaking into a computer, better described as cracking.” (my emp.)
While we can debate the hack/crack usage to no end (which will end with me agreeing that this is a crack by jargon standards), this is exactly what a common person calls a “hack.” Much to white hat hackers eternal frustration.
Is it illegal to access an e-mail account for which you have the PW, even if it’s not yours? I honestly don’t know the answer to this question. From what I’ve seen, though, this isn’t exactly Zero Cool and Cereal Killer using cyberskateboards to phreak their way past security. Palin did the equivalent of setting her briefcase lock to 1 2 3 4 5.
It is a felony in most states, yes. Having the password is irrelevant; the laws are typically concerned with whether you have permission. Much in the same way that it’s illegal to enter someone’s house without permission, even if they leave a door or window unlocked.
There seems to be a lot of misinformation on this, so let me helpfully clarify: Using your official email for party-related stuff, for campaigning, or anything not -directly- related to your duties… THAT is an ethics violation.
So, yeah, congrats to 4chan on a federal crime with zero payoff. Epic fail.
Actually, using a private account to hide official emails from FOIA requests is also an ethics violation, and probably a breach of Alaskan state law regarding the archiving of official correspondence. But I’ll agree that 4chan’s bumbling felony was pretty stupid.
Right, and that contradicts what I said how?
Pro-tip: campaign and party related correspondence is not subject to FOIA.
It doesn’t. But since some official business appears to have been conducted via the Yahoo account, and since Palin and her staff discussed whether or not the personal accounts would be subject to subpoena (although I don’t know off-hand what their conclusion was,) there is the appearance of trying to avoid FOIA and Alaska transparency laws.
How do we know this isn’t going to happen? I will bet that she uses the same password for a lot of her email accounts.
Here’s an upside to the email thing. Destroying Bill O’Reilly’s mind on his own show via Fox news anchor.