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EXPERTS CONTACTED BY MPR BELIEVE KUNIN CROSSED LEGAL LINE
By Michael B. Brodkorb | September 21, 2006
"But the consensus among experts contacted by Minnesota Public Radio News is that the blogger crossed a legal line.
'The blogger certainly did something illegal and something that is obviously illegal,' according to Bruce Schneier, the chief technology officer for Counterpane Internet Security, a California-based company that monitors computer networks.
'If you deliberately try to bypass a password block and you do, that is the equivalent of breaking and entering. It's equivalent to going to somebody's door and trying a bunch of keys randomly and then saying you got in and saying 'Well, I didn't break in. I had a bunch of keys. I tried them and one works so what's the problem?' There is a problem and the courts hold there is a problem,' he said." Source: MPR, September 21, 2006
Click here for complete story.
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24 Responses to “EXPERTS CONTACTED BY MPR BELIEVE KUNIN CROSSED LEGAL LINE”
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September 21st, 2006 at 6:10 PM
…Except it’s not a password. It’s a pathetic shortcut to another website.
Try it yourself. Go to the website and type “bob” for the “password”. It will take you to http://www.scott-howell.com/cybersession/bob.html (which doesn’t exist). Type “mde” for the “password”, and it will take you to http://www.scott-howell.com/cybersession/mde.html (which also doesn’t exist). What to guess where you go if you type in “markkennedyispathetic” as the “password”?
That is not a password block. That is a sad excuse at obfuscation. Whoever is doing web security for Scott Howell needs to be fired.
September 21st, 2006 at 6:34 PM
He had NO business in a private business’ files!
FOcUS here!
What was he doing, browsing, through a private companies files???
And has he done it before?
HOW did he know the word ALLEN would get him to Kennedy?
Someone needs to request a copy of his bank statement and of Tara’s.
And the rest of the staff needs to be questioned.
And Noah has now cost the Kennedy campaign money as they will have to drop the ad.
NOAH is a criminal. This is Theft of IP (Intellectual Property).
Two major points here:
1 He should never have searched for that info…and if he provided it without withholding his ID from Tara I would say that he was hired to get it and that he probably has gotten more or done more for them.
2 AMY should have contacted the Kennedy office and Mark himself IMMEDIATELY. If she were an innocent here she would have. But she is dirty and surrounds herself with dirty campaigners.
As the County Attorney she should recognize the need for a timely reporting to the victim and to the police. She sounded the alarm much to late to now profess innocence.
Women like that give the rest of us women a bad name.
You are no good example Amy…rather a grave disappointment.
September 21st, 2006 at 6:49 PM
On Saturday, September 16, 2006, our campaign was contacted by a local blogger. He called Tara McGuinness, Communications Director of our campaign, and then sent her a link to what appeared to be an unreleased advertisement of the Kennedy campaign. Neither Amy Klobuchar nor I have personally seen this advertisement and no campaign strategy or decisions will be changed because of it.â€
“I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH THAT WOMANâ€
Comment by annie rice — September 21, 2006 @ 6:47 pm
September 21st, 2006 at 6:54 PM
Noah, Noah, Noah.
The Republicans are spending millions to dig up personal dirt on Democratic candidates.
The Republicans have made it their campaign to run on personalities, since they have no issues that favor them.
The Republicans are using Amy Klobuchar’s own office against her, by filing blind requests for public information.
How do we fight this?
Not by typing guesses to password prompts on Republican websites.
We don’t need to sink to that level. All the publicly available information is more than enough to sink these guys.
If Bruce says you are over the line, believe me, buddy, you are over the line. If the prompt said password, you’re pretty much done.
Sorry to hear about it. Really.
September 21st, 2006 at 7:18 PM
I disagree with the analogy. This scenario was more like going to the public library and finding the card catalog locked. You can still see all the books, if you really want to look at the shelves without a specific reference. This really is no different. That is not security, trying to suggest that it is is just technical ignorance. Should the blogger in question have done what he did? That’s a different story altogether.
September 21st, 2006 at 7:22 PM
Either way it doesn’t reflect badly on Klobuchar. Either it was a password and the blogger did something wrong, and Klobuchar acted completely appropriately. Or, the blogger didn’t do anything wrong and Klobuchar should be commended for erring on the side of caution and fair-handedness. Regardless, Klobuchar is still the best candidate for senate.
September 21st, 2006 at 7:37 PM
He had NO business in a private business’ files!
FOcUS here!
What was he doing, browsing, through a private companies files???
He was browsing a PUBLIC WEBSITE on the INTERNET!
What are you doing here, browsing through Michael Brodkorb’s PRIVATE FILES???
September 21st, 2006 at 7:41 PM
Exactly, Willie. I’m agnostic at this point on whether what Noah did was illegal. It was wrong.
But no matter how much you all spin this, we keep coming back to one salient point: the only reason anyone knows about this is that the Klobuchar campaign reacted to this and disclosed it. If there was a “cover up,” this never would have seen the light of day.
September 21st, 2006 at 8:06 PM
when did the Klobuchar campaign actually contact federal authorities? There are also questions about who from the Klobuchar campaign actually contacted the FBI.
September 21st, 2006 at 8:50 PM
I think Diance is my favorite person who posts here. I can just feel her outrage through the sporadic words in all capital letters and repetitive use of the question mark.
The rest of you guys need to work on expressing your outrage through the unrecognized art of comment posting.
Keep up the good work, Diane, Muslims everywhere not only know how racist you are, but they feel it too.
September 21st, 2006 at 8:56 PM
Katie K-
Without sounding too harsh, your not giving good advise or using a relevant example.
There is A) no caselaw to corroborate what you just posted and B) actual experts disagree with you.
A card catalog is VERY different from a password protected file or library. In your example, the books can be reached directly, only the index is locked for searches.
In the case of what happened at the website, none of the information was publicly available w/o a password.
your understanding of how webservers work is flawed or your a complete moron and trying to spin this for the DFL.
September 21st, 2006 at 9:58 PM
And how many lines exactly has Mr. Brodkorb crossed in his days with the GOP? It strikes me he seemed to paint his own.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:20 PM
in response to this comment:
That is not a password block. That is a sad excuse at obfuscation. Whoever is doing web security for Scott Howell needs to be fired.
There is NO WAY that any I.T. professional would find that level of security.
Besides doesn’t anyone remember the episode of the West Wing where the exact same thing happened?
The Kennedy campaign is grasping at straws!
September 21st, 2006 at 10:23 PM
Sorry,
I meant to say no IT professional would find that level of security acceptable.
Heck, a monkey with a typwriter would know better.
Noah just walked into a stupid ploy.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:46 PM
> the only reason anyone knows about this
> is that the Klobuchar campaign reacted to
> this and disclosed it. If there was a
> “cover up,†this never would have seen the
> light of day.
Assuming that the ad agency server keeps a log of web traffic, they could probably trace Kunin, if they cared to, and investigating Kunin would obviously lead them to the Klobachar campaign. So Amy couldn’t sweep it under the rug even if she wanted to. One thing a County Attorney knows (even a dim one) is, better to turn yourself in first.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:48 PM
You are a fool to think otherwise;
it is theft. Pure and simple. Of IP.
This is a blog, you are a blogger.
THIS is a pyblic forum.
THOSE files were NOT for public consumption!
Why is there a password used on MYSPACE?
Some things should not be seen by everyone and it is your choice, when there is pasword involved, to hack or not to hack.
Noah hacked!
Now Noah pays for his crime…and for other crimes should they be found out in this process.
I will add here:
Tara McGuiness is far TOO experienced a campaign worker to have participated in this at all!
She is not a novice or an intern or a newcomer.
SHE KNEW WHAT SHE WAS DOING!!!!!
Has AMY said it out loud that she did not see the ad?
I don’t think she has.
I think it was a statement from her
Camp. Manager, Goldfarb.
So when we hear a direct quote from AMY that she did NOT see it…then we shall have a real prosecutable complaint against her. I am certain that in that FIVE days she had a private viewing…
She should have called Mr. Kennedy immediately!
She waited and hid evidence and probably had computers scrubbed and had staffers briefed on this before bringing anyone in like the FBI.
She is an Attorney….AMY knows better!
She clearly did not have a policy for her staff to have them act in such an irresponsible and unethical manner toward Mr. Kennedy.
What was Noah looking for anyways?
Crud on somme other candidate too?
Is that all that little fellow does now….snoop and work for Camp Amy Snoopy?
‘Coverup Klobucar’ has got a lot of explaining to do here yet!
September 21st, 2006 at 10:54 PM
Yeah Willie!! Staying reasonable is the sane thing to do when dirt is being flung your way. With a 24% point lead over thew favored Republican choice for Senate from Minnesota by the Wash9ngton machine in the White House, anything will be printed on the blogs. Amy knows that dirt is going be flung her way no matter what good she does. She is a Democrat, and therefore the enemy of Democracy. According to the gospel of Karl Rove and Co.
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:26 AM
If this is all true then the blogger should be fired by the campaign. If only he worked for them, they could SOOOO fire his ass.
If Michael had done this, would Kennedy fire him?
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:50 AM
Proof that the ad man’s site was not password-protected
All the files were publicly accessible – everyone on the right conveniently ignores this fact.
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:36 AM
If the prompt said password, typing something was hacking. Get over it.
The security was lame, very lame. Extremely lame. But if the screen said password, everyone knows what it means. No trespassing.
America is a nation of laws. Those laws should apply to everyone equally. That’s the beauty of our system. The law, not George Bush, is king. No one is above the law.
Let’s keep it that way.
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:37 AM
And technically speaking, the word is actually “cracking”. Hacking is honorable, cracking is illegal.
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:42 AM
As far as Klobuchar participating in a coverup, that’s just pure BS.
Tara should have said “no thanks”, but she’s gone now for her mistake.
The FBI was called. No coverup. Duh.
End of story.
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:14 PM
That’s pretty good CHICKEN CRAP HANNA ! Three posts this morning before you put in your 8 hours
of TAXPAYER FUNDED NON-WORK ! I guess that means we’ll have to put up with one of your ALIASES LYING until 5 P.M. TONIGHT !
September 22nd, 2006 at 6:43 PM
Good old jimj… you can always count on that one for some UPPERCASE HUMOR!
So what’s your job, Jim? Are you another paid blogger by the GOP, like MB?