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Sarah Palin email hack

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The Sarah Palin email hack was an illegal unauthorized access to the Yahoo! email account of 2008 U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. This access is being prosecuted as a felony, which if proven in court is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.[1][2]

Incident

On September 17, 2008, the private Yahoo! Mail account of Sarah Palin, Republican vice presidential candidate in the 2008 United States presidential election, was hacked by a 4chan user.[3] The hacker known as "Rubico" at the time targeted Palin because he wanted to "derail her campaign."[4]After reading through all of Palin's email the Rubico wrote "There was nothing there, nothing incriminating — all I saw was personal stuff, some clerical stuff from when she was governor," [4] Rubico wrote that he used the Sarah Palin Wikipedia article to find out Palin's exact birthday in "15 seconds", one of the standard security questions used by Yahoo. [5] The hacker posted the account's password on /b/ a channel of 4chan, and screenshots from within the account to Wikileaks.[6] A /b/ user then logged in and changed the password, posting a screenshot of his sending an email to a friend of Palin's informing her of the new password on the /b/ thread. However, he forgot to blank out the password in the screenshot.[7] A multitude of /b/ users attempted to log in with the new password, the account was automatically locked out by Yahoo!. The incident was criticized by some /b/ users, one of whom complained that "seriously, /b/. We could have changed history and failed, epically."[8] The hacker admitted he was worried about being caught, writing "Yes I was behind a proxy, only one, if this shit ever got to the FBI I was fucked, I panicked, I still wanted the stuff out there . . . so I posted the [information] . . . and then promptly deleted everything, and unplugged my internet and just sat there in a comatose state." [5] The hacker left behind traces of his activity, his IP address was logged at CTunnel, the single proxy he used, he also left his email address rubico10@yahoo.com when he posted at 4chan. Further the attacker revealed the original web address used by the proxy[9] by leaving this information in the screenshot which according to experts can also help the investigation[9]. 4chan is not archived, posts are only retained for a short time but with the great interest surrounding the posts of Rubico, many, including wired.com and others archived the original posts. The email address left behind was then connected to David Kernell through various social networking profiles where it was used[10], though no official investigation took place at this early time.

Campaign response

John McCain's campaign condemned the incident saying it was a "shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law".[9] Barack Obama spokesman Bill Burton called the hacking "outrageous".[5]

Federal investigation

The FBI and Secret Service began investigating the incident and on September 20, it was revealed that they were questioning David Kernell, a 20-year-old economics student at the University of Tennessee and the son of Democratic Tennessee State Representative Mike Kernell from Memphis.[11][12][13][1] The handle used by the hacker when making his post at 4chan pointed to him, although this evidence was inconclusive because of the frequent pranks pulled at that board.[14] The hacker's proxy service provided its logs, which pointed to Kernell's residence.[14][11] David Kernell is a self described "Obamacrat"; a supporter of Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama, the President of the United States.[15]

FBI agents served a federal search warrant at the Knoxville Tennessee residence of David Kernell. Kernell, according to witnesses, fled the scene when the FBI agents arrived.[16] Agents spent 1.5 to 2 hours taking pictures of everything inside his apartment. Kernell's three roommates were also subpoenaed and expected to testify the following week in Chattanooga.[17] Kernell Sr. told Wired that he was aware that his son was a suspect, but he did not ask him anything about it over concerns that he may have to testify in court.[18]

Indictment

A federal grand jury in Chattanooga, Tennessee considered Kernell's case in September but did not deliver an indictment.[19] Kernell retained Knoxville, Tennessee attorney Wade V. Davies.

A second federal grand jury in Knoxville returned an indictment of Kernell on October 7, 2008.[20] He was charged with violating 18 U.S.C. Section 2701 and Section 1030(a)(2)(C), or unlawful access to stored communications and intentionally accessing a computer without authorization across state lines, respectively.[21] Kernell turned himself in the next day.[22] Kernell denied the charges and pled not-guilty.[23] The court released Kernell without bail.[24] A trial date was set for April 2009 but has since been delayed at the request of both attorneys.[22][25]

References

  1. ^ a b Palin Hacker Indicted Cite error: The named reference "sgun" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ UT student David Kernell pleads not guilty in Palin e-mail hacking
  3. ^ Ted Bridis (2008-09-17). "Hackers claim break-in to Palin's e-mail account". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  4. ^ a b Rowland, Kara (2008-09-19). "Hacker wanted to 'derail' Palin". The Washingon Times. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
  5. ^ a b c New York Post DEM POL'S SON WAS 'HACKER'
  6. ^ Tom Phillips (2008-09-17). "Sarah Palin's email gets hacked". Metro. Retrieved 2008-09-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ M. J. Stephey (2008-09-17). "Sarah Palin's E-mail Hacked". TIME. Retrieved 2008-09-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ David Sarno (2008-09-17). "4Chan's half-hack of Palin's email goes awry". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-09-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ a b c BBC Student suspect in Palin hacking
  10. ^ Los Angeles Times Kid in Palin hack fuss gets a digital hit-and-run
  11. ^ a b Steve Bosak (2008-09-20). "Suspect Nabbed in Palin E-mail Hack". NewsFactor. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  12. ^ Goodin, Dan (2008-10-08). "Son of state lawmaker charged with Palin email hack". The Register. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  13. ^ Lakin, Matt (2008-10-09). "Jury indicts UT student accused of hacking Palin's e-mail". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  14. ^ a b "Grand jury investigates Palin e-mail hack; no charges yet". Ars Technica. 2008-09-24.
  15. ^ Frank, Terry (2008-09-18). "Investigating David Kernell". Frankly Speaking. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  16. ^ Simmons, Becky (2008-09-22). "Update: FBI serves search warrant against UT student in Palin case". WBIR.com. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  17. ^ Chisamera, Dee (2008-09-22). "FBI Search The Apartment Of Palin Hack Primary Suspect". eFluxMedia. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  18. ^ Paul, Ian (2008-09-22). "Palin Update: Tenn. Student Implicated in Hack". Today @ PC World. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  19. ^ Moriarity, Caitlin (2008-09-23). "Kernell Retains Lawyer, Is Not Indicted". The Channel Wire. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  20. ^ "David C. Kernell Indicted for Alleged Hack of Governor Sarah Palin's E-mail Account" (Press release). United States Department of Justice. 2008-10-08.
  21. ^ "Indictment: United States of America v. David Kernell a/k/a "rubico," defendant" (PDF). United States District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville. 2008-10-07.
  22. ^ a b Mansfield, Duncan (2008-10-09). "Son of Tenn. Democrat indicted in Palin hacking". Wired.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  23. ^ "Man denies hacking Palin e-mail". BBC News. 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  24. ^ Reid, Tim (2008-10-09). "John McCain campaign renews attack on 'terrorist's friend' Barack Obama". The Times. London. Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-10-12. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ Satterfield, Jamie (15 November 2008). "Accused e-mail hacker staying out of trouble". Knoxville, Tennessee: Knoxville News-Sentinel. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
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