Hacker Declared Guily of Hacking Into Sarah Palins Email

May 3, 2010 Computer News

The Sarah Palin hacking case is finally getting somewhere according to latest news reports. A twenty two year old Student whose name is David C. Kernel was found guilty of hacking into the Yahoo email account of Sarah Palin. This hacking attack happened in 2008, when Sarah Palin at the time was helping Arizona Senator John McCain’s Republican presidential campaign. It has taken a while for this case to come to some level of closure but has finally reached this point, thanks to the Tennessee jury.

Sarah Palin was making use of her Yahoo account at the time in order to conduct her business. Kernel’s lawyer tried hard to convince the jury that it was simply a prank which was taken too far and that the boy’s motives had nothing to do with Plain’s campaign. Despite what his lawyer said, the prosecutors who were involved in the case seem to have very different views on the matter and firmly believe that his motive was to damage the campaign.

Another factor contributing to the case is the factor that it was allegedly claimed that Kernel also went as far as deleting all the records and evidence of his involvement with the hacking. He did this after it had been brought to his attention that there was a FBI investigation which was being carried out. He posted all content online anonymously, but unfortunately for him he was tracked down via his IP address.

What his motives really were, we cannot be sure. However it is being taken seriously and he is not going to get away with it. One of the very disturbing aspects with regard to this hacking case is the factor that he guessed Sarah Palins password. This may be seen as yet another example to the public of just how important computer security is and how it is suggested to use a safe password that another person is unable to guess.

Kernel was convicted on two charges by the jury, which was unauthorized access to a computer as well as obstruction of justice. He was found not guilty of wire fraud. He now faces up to a total year in prison with $100,000 fine, and 20 years in prison with $250,000 fine due to the charges he has for obstruction of justice. It is going to be fascinating for all of us to see the end results of this case.