The 20 year-old son of Democratic state legislator Mike Kernell has been
indicted for
hacking
into the email account of Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah
Palin.
David Kernell was arrested after an FBI investigation into the incident in
which the password of Palin's Yahoo account was changed and details of her
emails posted online by an individual known as 'rubico'.
If found guilty, Kernell could face five years in prison and a fine of
$250,000 (£145,000).
"Cyber-crime is the FBI's top criminal investigative priority," said Richard
Lambert, special agent in charge, FBI Knoxville Field Division.
"We would like to thank all of the internet service providers and others who
partnered with us to bring this matter to a quick and successful resolution."
Kernell was released from court without bail but is banned from owning a
computer and can only use the internet to check email and complete his class
work.
As hacking attacks go, this one seems to have been rather amateurish. Kernell
posted screenshots of the email that included information about his ISP, and his
postings on a message board were quickly tracked back to his email address.
However, the case highlighted the
improper
use of a webmail account for official government business. Under oversight
rules all state business should be conducted over government email systems so
that all records can be checked.
Do you agree?
Have your say on this article