by Brian Heater

Is a 20-year-old college student a threat to national Webmail security? FBI agents searched his residence at the University of Tennessee over the weekend, in connection with the recent hacking of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's Yahoo! e-mail account, Knoxville's WBIR-TV reported.

When the agents descended on his apartment at midnight, a party was being held on the premises; the student and several friends reportedly fled. Acting on a search warrant, the agents asked partygoers to wait outside as they took photographs.

The student's name is David Kernell, and he's the son of Tennessee Democratic state representative, Mike Kernell.

Kernell the younger was widely assumed to be responsible for the hack, after a post to 4chan detailed how the user got into Palin's account. The poster's name reflected Kernell's e-mail address, while the IP provider of the hacker was the same as the one that provides service to Kernell's dorm.

According to Wired, whoever is charged for the crime will likely be pinned with a misdemeanor. Or they could walk away scot free, too, thanks to a potential DOJ loophole.

Source:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2330879,00.asp

The real question that should be asked is, was "David Kernell" the real perpetrator of this deed, or is it (hypothetically speaking of course), yet another "slight of hand" trick by a certain political party, to drum up support through sympathy for their side.

If it can be proven the Mr. Kernell was in fact responsible, then by all means he should be punished. One would hope the feds would leave no stone unturned in this particular to make sure they truly have the right man.

considering she used the same 6 letter English word, for ALL her passwords...... she could have been the VP!!!!

Her response regarding her password, on the news was: "dam, but i use it for everything"

tell me that that is not a serious security loophole..... for anything from bribery to blackmail....
With someone in power..... who is that dumb.

I guess the gov doesn't take the hint when 14 year olds are able to hack at government networks.

We should pay these college kids to test the security, it is indeed a matter of national security after all.

We should pay these college kids to test the security, it is indeed a matter of national security after all.

Agreed.