Sarah Palin's Yahoo Account Hacked

Sarah Palin's e-mail account was hacked this week. The hacker gained access to Palin's Yahoo account by confirming personal information. The Republican vice presidential candidate also uses Yahoo e-mail accounts to conduct state business.

The Yahoo e-mail account belonging to Sarah Palin was hacked early this week. The Republican vice presidential candidate used Yahoo as an alternative e-mail address to conduct state business.

The hacker gained access to Palin's Yahoo account by confirming personal information.

For instance, the hacker knew that Palin met her husband in high school since that was mentioned during the Republican National Convention. The hacker could easily know Palin's birth date and zip code.

By knowing that information, the hacker clicked on Yahoo's "forgot-my-password" service and answered the questions to validate their identity. Once confirmed, the hacker changed the password to "popcorn" and gained entry.

Network security firms have warned of this exploit, a common practice used by hackers on services that offer "forgot my password" or automatic password change.

The person who claimed responsibility for the break-in wrote, "i am the lurker who did it, and i would like to tell the story," the person wrote in the account. The message was circulated on the Internet.

The hacker also said that it started as a prank but is now panicking since the FBI got involved.

People who use Internet anonymity services think that their private information, such as their IP address identity, is not saved or logged. Since they are using the service, the IP of that service is known. Investigators then contact the service to find out the next trace.

Using the IP address of the hacker, authorities will be able to trace who the person is with help of their Internet Service Provider. In cases like this, it is not unusual that an ISP will help authorities with their investigation. They will be able to provide the person's name and address based on what IP address the account is under.