Battleangel

So, it turns out using a public email service isn’t entirely secure. What a shocker (Ars).

According to a timeline compiled by users at the online chat board 4Chan, an anonymous poster appeared on the "Random" board known as /b/, claiming to have accessed Palin’s account. Skeptical posters apparently dismissed the claim as a hoax, until the hacker posted the password ("popcorn"), prompting groups of forum users to log in. One of these—who appears to be the source of the documents released on Wikileaks—subsequently changed the password and notified one of Palin’s assistants via e-mail. That user, however, inadvertently included the new password in the released screenshots, prompting a second flood that triggered Yahoo’s security lockdown.

Ars also notes that

If Palin’s recourse to the popular Web mail service was an attempt to dodge disclosure requirements, it has clearly backfired.

Wikileaks seems to be down for the moment, but Pirate Bay has the same content: Sarah Palin Email Leaks (which doesn’t seem like much). Hopefully someone has the full email account stored for future reference. If not, this has got to be one of the stupidest hacks ever.

Also on: Gawker, Guardian, Slashdot.