Gov. Palin’s E-Mail Hacked

September 19, 2008 By Digital Trends Staff

Gov. Palin

The group called Anonymous has hacked into Sarah Palin's Yahoo account and posted the mails it found in Wikileaks.

It was really just a matter of time. Since the speculation broke that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, currently running for vice president on the Republican ticket, might be using a private Yahoo account for state business, it was a certainly that someone would hack into that account.

In the event it was a group called the Anonymous, which has had prior tangles with the Church of Scientology. Using a proxy service they found their way into the Governor’s account, and published five screenshots, an address book and two digital pictures of Palin’s family on the Wikileaks site, known for its regular whistle-blowing.

What prompted this? Rumors that Palin was using a personal account to conduct official state business. While personal mails can be deleted, under law, all official mails have to be archived. Palin is currently under investigation for possible abuses of power in Alaska.

Among the mails posted is a communication with the state’s deputy governor, and the pictures have not be published before. Since the attack, two addresses – gov.palin@yahoo.com and gov.sarah@yahoo.com – have been taken down, the BBC reports.

The McCain campaign responded to the leak by saying:

"The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these e-mails will destroy them."

It’s believed that hackers used the CTunnel proxy service to try and obscure their tracks, and the FBI is now seeking access to records. Apparently, the hackers were able to gain access to Palin’s account by using the Yahoo Mail password reset service and information widely available on the Internet.

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The Anonymous Daily News » Blog Archive » Anonymous to Senate: Expect Us at 3:22pm 9th December 2011 [...] Anonymous, famous for hacking former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s e-mails, among other things, has issued a warning to the U.S. Senate for passing a bill that [...]
Anonymous turns its attention to the U.S. Senate over controversial bill at 9:03am 9th December 2011 [...] details on what or how Anonymous planned to go after the Senate, but in 2008 the group made headlines for hacking, then releasing many of Sarah Palin’s email. With election year coming up, perhaps it [...]
requiredd at 7:41am 19th September 2008 Barracuda refused to turn over 1100 emails in a F.O.I.A. Stating they are of a personal nature, when they are not. That's a federal crime. It's a pre-meditated crime,which to commit the crime of illegally shielding government documents is why she was using the account in the first place. Moreover the Attorney Generals Office of the great state of Alaska just issued an opinion that if government documents are in a private e-mail account,the State has the right to review them, that they must be saved for three years, and that to destroy (delete) them is a crime.In my opinion, Palin or someone in her employment (McCorkell? Having a P.I. Background & couldn't resist giving herself 2 min. of fame)done this as an excuse to delete and/or discredit the account.I believe the trail will lead back to them if it's followed in a prudent manner. Everyone so smart call this hacker so dumb.Do we have a sloppy hacker or a smart and devious hacker framing the kid?don't say no or act like you're so smart if you haven't considered it.If the I.P. Addy matches the kid in question yet it still doesn't add up a then programs like netbus or back orifice with a built in wiping routine should be considered. These are common names for a trojan jacker that a hacker can take over your computer use it without you knowing it,then attack others with your computer address.It turns your computer into a proxy..after the deed is done it can erase itself and fill in where it was with random bytes. Anyone can download these programs off the net in a matter of three minutes..Remember M.O.M. (means,opportunity,& motive)Who really has all three? Palin...Let us not forget the bug Karl Rove found in his Texas office and the WHOLE story behind that!! What, you don't know what I'm talking about? Oh well whatever never mind.