MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Tennessee State Rep. Mike Kernell declined Thursday to respond to online allegations his son hacked into Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account."My son's the one in question, and I can't comment on him," said Kernell, a Memphis Democrat.Bloggers have alleged that David Kernell, 20, is the one who has claimed responsibility for breaking into the Alaska governor's e-mail account. The evidence is tenuous. In fact, one of the first blogs to allege the son of a Democratic politician was responsible, relied on e-mail tips and described its evidence as "pretty thin."On Wednesday, the FBI and Secret Service launched an investigation that includes agents in Memphis. C.M. Sturgis, a spokesman for the Memphis FBI branch, confirmed late Thursday that his office is involved."All I can say is that a matter was referred to us from the Anchorage, Alaska, office. An investigation at this time is being coordinated out of FBI headquarters in the Department of Justice," Sturgis said.Also Wednesday, a person using the e-mail address rubico10(at)yahoo.com posted to an online forum about how he used Yahoo! Mail's password-recovery tool to obtain Palin's password."i am the lurker who did it, and i would like to tell the story," rubico10(at)yahoo.com wrote on the Web site .The hacker later explained how he reviewed Palin's e-mails one by one: "I read though the emails... ALL OF THEM... before I posted, and what I concluded was anticlimactic, there was nothing there, nothing incriminating, nothing that would derail her campaign as I had hoped, all I saw was personal stuff, some clerical stuff from when she was governor.... And pictures of her family."The hacker used easily available information about Palin to answer questions Yahoo! Mail uses to verify identity. The hacker answered the first two questions easily - birth date and zip code. The third question - "Where did you meet your spouse?" - required the hacker to research the answer until he found the correct one, Wasilla High."it took seriously 45 mins on wikipedia and google to find the info," rubico10(at)yahoo.com wrote. After changing the e-mail password to "popcorn," the hacker then posted the username and password to 4chan, allowing others to access Palin's e-mail.In Nashville on Thursday, Rep. Kernell would neither confirm nor deny his son was involved in hacking Palin's e-mail account. Although Kernell said he was aware of claims his son was responsible, the politician would not address any of them."Father-son relationship," Kernell explained.The longtime legislator would not say whether rubico10(at)yahoo.com is his son's e-mail address. "I can't comment on my son," he repeated.Asked if he has been contacted by investigators, Kernell responded: "Me, no.""I can't say about my son," he added. "That doesn't mean he has or hasn't been contacted."David Kernell, now a student at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, could not be reached.Although FBI and Secret Services officials have not identified suspects in the case, they are reviewing logs that could confirm the hacker's identity.The hacker accessed the Alaska governor's private e-mail account after the news media disclosed e-mails indicating Palin's administration used private e-mail accounts as a way to work outside Alaska's Open Records Act.David Kernell excelled at chess while at Germantown (Tenn.) High School and won the 2004 Tennessee Open Scholastic Chess Championship. Internet searches show someone uses the handle rubico on chess Web sites. In addition, an inactive blog, with one post dated May 2004, included rubico as a username. Its author identified himself as a chess player from Memphis named David.E-mail Trevor Aaronson at Aaronson(at)commercialappeal.com. Staff reporters Jody Callahan and Richard Locker contributed.(Trevor Aaronson writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.)
Tennessee politician's son suspected of hacking Palin's e-mail
Submitted by SHNS on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 23:20
Why is this not a bigger deal with Media
Ok. The media is barley covering this topic. Google news has it pushed off the main pages.
Hardly any of the media is diving into the hacker like they did on Sarah or Sarah Children.
Oh my this thing may have links directly to Democratic party, little media coverage shows the bias towards left.
How come this is not investigated like "troopergate" This might be "hackergate" an electronic version of watergate.
sure sure
She 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. Do we have a sloppy hacker or a smart and devious hacker. If the I.P. addy matches the kid in question yet it doesn't add up a program 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? Well then just shut-up and go back to sleep America.
Obama's Army of Creeps
JUST AS WE SUSPECTED! Obama and his Democrat Army of Creeps is going around hacking into people's emails and then posting personal photos and correspondence on the web.
Just think what these people will do to us should they ever get their ten year old fingers on the nuclear button! These people who are behind this sickening invasion of privacy need to be locked up and throw away the key!
This lead is a Red Herring - start looking at Yahoo HQ!
Occam's Razor tells us the simplest explanation is the most likely explanation.
No one "guessed" her password and no super-genious hacker sent her a Trojan Horse that tricked her.
People have already tried to replicate the "password reset" method and they failed every time.
Internet security "experts" are trying to impress us with highfalutin jargon of their trade to get their names on the evening news.
This rubico guy is probably leading authorities on a wild goose chase, or is trying to claim fame, like confessing to being a serial killer.
The simplest and most likely explanation is that someone who had easy access to her account made the break in:
Someone at Yahoo headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA
That den of leftist moonbats had the method, motive, and opportunity to do this.
Palim Hacking
Yahoo, Google, and other Internet providers have WAY too much personal info about us and sell it with abandon to "Search" services like their own People Search, Yahoo and Google Search, etc. WITHOUT OUR PERMISSION OR ANY MONITORING OR REGULATION. I didn't want my date of birth or even age, or other personal data to end up on these PeopleSearch engines so that nosy neighbors, angry employees or colleagues or even ID THIEVES AND HACKERS can get this data, but no one asks me or you whether we want our info to be sold or put out on the net when we sign up for Internet service -- and who really has a "choice" about signing up? You can't afford NOT to have email or access the net.
While liberals are so worried to the point of apoplectic obsession about the government's monitoring the emails and phone calls of people they have reason to suspect to be involved with terrorism or national security (which is a legit concern, given Bush/Cheney's lack of concern with privacy), the liberals themselves are all FOR this unlimited misuse and selling of our personal info as part of "the public's right to know."
Obama's people hacking into Palin's account is just an extension of this.
I can't say about my son,"
I can't say about my son," he added. "That doesn't mean he has or hasn't been contacted.
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