You've probably heard the news by now: Governor Sarah Palin's Yahoo email account was hacked. The word naive comes to mind right about now.
A governor of any state ought to know better than to use a public Web-based email system. First of all, Web-based email such as that provided by Yahoo travels over the Internet in clear text. Secondly, using Web-based email means using a Web browser. So which one is she using and is it really protected adequately against a wide assortment of browser-related exploits?
Next on the list of "you really ought to know better" issues is that email at Yahoo is accessible by an untold number of people that work at Yahoo. Said otherwise, no correspondence through that system can reasonable be thought of as private.
Furthermore, a governor ought not to use such obvious email addresses as "gov.palin [at] yahoo.com" or "gov.sarah [at] yahoo.com." That's simply begging for trouble.
Then she apparently gave Yahoo her real zip code and address, plus used an easy to guess password: "popcorn," according to report by MSNBC.
And finally, doesn't the wealthy state of Alaska have its own governmental email system that Palin could have been using instead of Yahoo?
I'm nearly speechless about this. Granted, someone violated her 'privacy' by hacking the mailbox and posting screenshots on the net. But at the same time Palin gave up a certain amount of her privacy willingly by not protecting her privacy adequately. All she had to do was find a savvy tech person (of which there are bound to be many working for the state of Alaska) and ask "What do I need to know about using the Internet?"
Anyway, Gawker has a scoop if you're interested.
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