Sarah Palin's Yahoo Email Account Hacked

[jsteele]

Take this with a grain of salt until there is further verification, but WikilLeaks has published screenshots and other documents showing that a Yahoo email account used by Sarah Palin was hacked yesterday. Wired's ThreatLevel blog has confirmed the authenticity of one of the emails shown.

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/group-posts-e-m.html

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin_Yahoo_email_hack_2008

The most revealing element is that the inbox contains a number of emails that appear to involve official Alaskan state business. Palin has been accused of using private email addresses to avoid public disclosure laws and the email archiving implemented on government systems. Since the account in question has now been deleted, there may be some obstruction of justice issues here (destruction of evidence, etc.).

At any rate, Palin's use of a private email address and destruction of email shows that she would fit right in as Dick Cheney's replacement. I suggest that everyone avoid joining her for a moose-hunting trip so as not to get shot in the face.

[Anonymous]

Maybe I missed something? I went through the screen shots and I didn't see anything resembling government business? I use my personal email to send info to my co-workers at times too - family photos, social invites, etc. Could I be violating a public disclosure law by doing this?

Conversely, if I used my employer's email, couldn't I get in trouble for personal use of business resources? I guess the moral of the story is don't be on personal, friendly terms with co-workers or vendors?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I missed something?

Yes, you missed something. Here were a few of the emails in her inbox:

Michael Nizich is Palin's Chief of Staff and Randall Ruaro is a special assistant in her office.

Nizich, Michael A (GOV)
Attachments
FW: Memorandum of Law
Thu, 8/7/08 669KB
Read


Nizich, Michael A (GOV)
Attachments
FW: Request for Information and Documents
Thu, 8/7/08 525KB
Read


Nizich, Michael A (GOV)
FW: CONFIDENTIAL Ethics Matter
Thu, 8/7/08 3KB
Read

Ruaro, Randall P (GOV)
Court of Appeals Nominations
Sat, 8/16/08 11KB
Read


Ruaro, Randall P (GOV)
FW: DPS Personnel and Budget Issues
Tue, 8/19/08 11KB
Read


These do not appear to be casual conversations about dog sledding or the proper technique to skin a moose. They very much look like government business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I missed something? I went through the screen shots and I didn't see anything resembling government business? I use my personal email to send info to my co-workers at times too - family photos, social invites, etc. Could I be violating a public disclosure law by doing this?

Conversely, if I used my employer's email, couldn't I get in trouble for personal use of business resources? I guess the moral of the story is don't be on personal, friendly terms with co-workers or vendors?

I think there was an article in the NYT about Palin's and staff's use of personal email accounts for state business to avoid emails being subpoenaed at a later time. My question is what no-good are you up to that you have to hide your email communication so early on in your tenure as governor?

[Anonymous]

Wow, using an unsecure email system to discuss official business so you can avoid having to disclose it - that is very smart, NOT!

[Anonymous]

Hmm, we don't know whether she REPLIED ALL or sent personal replies. (on the possibility that she sent to her govt. acct to for posterity's sake) You would think if the hackers could get in they could have checked her SENT mail too, since they read her inbox. (all benign)

[Anonymous]

Hmmm. The Wikileaks.org link no longer works.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm. The Wikileaks.org link no longer works.

They moved it:

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/VP_contender_Sarah_Palin_hacked

[Anonymous]

Does this contribute anything besides fodder for the "they're persecuting our Sarah" campaign?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Does this contribute anything besides fodder for the "they're persecuting our Sarah" campaign?

Since it provides evidence that Palin has indeed used a personal account for government business -- a likely violation of the law -- I'd say "yes".

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does this contribute anything besides fodder for the "they're persecuting our Sarah" campaign?

Since it provides evidence that Palin has indeed used a personal account for government business -- a likely violation of the law -- I'd say "yes".

Apologies. I had not read your list of memos when I wrote my question. Those memos definitely look incriminating.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't anyone else think this is just plain wrong? Obtaining this information with a subpoena - okay. Hacking? I feel sorry for her and her family - especially her kids who had their personal phone numbers and email accounts published online. Aren't there any limits to what one will do in support of a candidate?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there any limits to what one will do in support of a candidate?

FYI, the hackers most likely support Ron Paul.

[Anonymous]

what's the link to Ron Paul?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
what's the link to Ron Paul?

The hacking group is very amorphous so its very hard to say anything about its members for sure. In fact, the members might not even have a common political agenda. Their best know previous activity was attacking the Church of Scientology. But, among other things, the same hackers are said to make up the organization "Spam and Hack for Ron Paul".

http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Anonymous

(this is not the best source, but underground hacker groups don't provide much in the way of documentation).