CBS News: Multiple Breaches of Sharyl Attkisson’s Computer
Today CBS News is confirming that reporter Sharyl Attkisson’s computer was hacked, and the entire right wing blogosphere is jumping to the conclusion that our evil President must be behind it, of course.
That investigation has reached the following conclusions, according to CBS News spokeswoman Sonya McNair:
“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.
CBS News is taking steps to identify the responsible party and their method of access.”
The Justice Department has issued a categorical denial that they had anything to do with the breach. But whether or not you’re inclined to believe them, it’s far more likely that Atkisson’s computer was compromised by much more prosaic means, the same way millions of other computers have been hacked — by a virus or a worm that gained access via Atkisson’s own insecure practices.