John Hinderaker:
Back in June 2013, we covered the hacking of at least one of reporter Sharyl Attkisson’s computers by persons unknown. CBS, which, as we now know, was anything but supportive of Attkisson, verified that the intrusion(s) had taken place:
A cyber security firm hired by CBS News has determined through forensic analysis that Sharyl Attkisson’s computer was accessed by an unauthorized, external, unknown party on multiple occasions late in 2012. Evidence suggests this party performed all access remotely using Attkisson’s accounts. While no malicious code was found, forensic analysis revealed an intruder had executed commands that appeared to involve search and exfiltration of data.
This party also used sophisticated methods to remove all possible indications of unauthorized activity, and alter system times to cause further confusion.
But we heard nothing further until the publication of Attkisson’s explosive book, Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama’s Washington. Now the next shoe has dropped, as theNew York Post reports:
In her new memoir, Sharyl Attkisson says a source who arranged to have her laptop checked for spyware in 2013 was “shocked” and “flabbergasted” at what the analysis revealed.
“This is outrageous. Worse than anything Nixon ever did. I wouldn’t have believed something like this could happen in the United States of America,” Attkisson quotes the source saying.
She speculates that the motive was to lay the groundwork for possible charges against her or her sources.
Attkisson says the source, who’s “connected to government three-letter agencies,” told her the computer was hacked into by “a sophisticated entity that used commercial, nonattributable spyware that’s proprietary to a government agency: either the CIA, FBI, the Defense Intelligence Agency or the National Security Agency.”
The breach was accomplished through an “otherwise innocuous e-mail” that Attkisson says she got in February 2012, then twice “redone” and “refreshed” through a satellite hookup and a Wi-Fi connection at a Ritz-Carlton hotel.
The spyware included programs that Attkisson says monitored her every keystroke and gave the snoops access to all her e-mails and the passwords to her financial accounts.
“The intruders discovered my Skype account handle, stole the password, activated the audio, and made heavy use of it, presumably as a listening tool,” she wrote in “Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama’s Washington.”
But the most shocking finding, she says, was the discovery of three classified documents that Number One told her were “buried deep in your operating system. In a place that, unless you’re a some kind of computer whiz specialist, you wouldn’t even know exists.”
“They probably planted them to be able to accuse you of having classified documents if they ever needed to do that at some point,” Number One added.
If the Obama administration hacked into a reporter’s computers, used them to spy on her, and even prepared to frame her for a potential criminal prosecution by planting classified documents, aren’t we looking at the biggest scandal in American history?
But how on earth will we ever know who was behind this?
Obama surrounds himself with closeted gays, fellow conspirators and people he has something on……all who KNOW how to keep secrets.
Stonewalling seems to be his one big strength as president.
He has failed at almost everything else.
The “proprietary to a government agency” claim is unintentionally funny, considering that the spyware in question has just been described as “commercial,” and that all of the compromised items listed are typical targets of people using it criminal intent. Keystroke logging software is a typical sort of malware. You don’t want it, but you may get it anyway if you’re not vigilant. Refreshed via a satellite hookup and a Wi-Fi connection at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel? Those are fairly typical wireless internet connections. Public Wi-Fi often isn’t secure—users should assume that it isn’t—and satellite links are no more secure than the internet in general. If you’ve picked up malicious code by unwisely opening email from an unknown source, it’s most likely phoning home every time you go online, however you go online, and periodically updating itself.
If these actions are indeed true, and I don’t doubt very much they are….What a way to impose “control” .
The lying, harassment, and intimidation of present day government (particularly this regime) is off the scales.
Governors, (honest) journalists, other politicians, law eforcement opposing tatics used by this ‘regime’ in a public forum all of a sudden become mysteriously silent…
Yes…this is a huge story…but that’s not stopped the MSM in the past from ignoring big stories. Fast and Furious, Benghazi, and especially the mess at the IRS. The last has the potential to bring down Obama should a link between Lerner and the White House emerge. Will ABC, NBC, CNN, and especially CBS cover it? At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if it were just ignored as more “Fox noise”. The media have become deeply corrupt.