Minnesota Recount: Coleman donors hacked? Update: Confirmed
posted at 3:15 pm on March 11, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Just when the Norm Coleman campaign started actively pressing for contributions, The Hill reports that previous on-line donors had better start canceling their credit cards. Apparently, their site for on-line donations got hacked, and the thieves have threatened to release the information (vua Fraters Libertas):
Norm Coleman’s Senate campaign said Wednesday that the private information of its supporters has probably been breached and is encouraging them to cancel their credit cards.
Coleman backers began receiving e-mails Tuesday night from an e-mail address at wikileaks.org stating that it possessed personal information about them and was preparing to post it online.
The same address stated in an e-mail early Wednesday morning that “we have discovered that all on-line Coleman contributors had their full credit card details released onto the Internet on 28 of [January], 2009, by Coleman’s staff.”
Coleman’s campaign followed with an e-mail Wednesday morning that said the campaign became worried that its firewalls had been breached in January. …
Coleman’s campaign is encouraging supporters who think they might have contributed to the campaign to cancel their credit cards.
I donated to Coleman, but not on line, so this doesn’t affect me personally or directly. However, it will affect thousands of Coleman backers who assumed their information would be protected. Some of them may question the long period of time between the point where they became concerned and the point when they began to warn their contributors of a problem.
Of course, this could be just a dirty trick, and one that would be well-timed. Coleman’s campaign began calling its donor base this week in a new fundraising effort to keep their election contest in action. The timing of this e-mail seems pretty suspicious; it will certainly have potential donors thinking twice about tossing some cash into the kitty with credit cards, on line or any other way.
My guess: dirty-trick hoax. But prepare yourself nonetheless. I’ve checked the file, and it looks rather convincing.
Update: Just got an e-mail from one of the people on the list, who says his information is unfortunately all too accurate.
Blowback
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Nice!
Ed, this doesn’t seem like it will ever end.
upinak on March 11, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Desperate times, call for desperate actions. Typical of Democrats.
fbcmusicman on March 11, 2009 at 3:18 PM
This can’t be possible. Haven’t you heard?
It’s only Republicans who use illegal methods to swing elections their way. Right?
KingGold on March 11, 2009 at 3:18 PM
This really pisses me off.
Wikileaks could serve and has served as a very useful function releasing previously classified documents about issues or rules.
But to release a private donors list is just crass and only proves what a political hit machine they are.
Skywise on March 11, 2009 at 3:19 PM
I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that it’s a hoax at this point.
Abby Adams on March 11, 2009 at 3:21 PM
Just another day at the office for the vile jackasses who support worthless, incompetent and corrupt Democrat politicians.
It’s the kind of people they are. Democrat scum.
NoDonkey on March 11, 2009 at 3:21 PM
Great. Just great.
OmahaConservative on March 11, 2009 at 3:22 PM
Disturbing. I found this line… strange, though:
Huh? Folks who “think they might have contributed?”
What’s that all about?
cs89 on March 11, 2009 at 3:24 PM
I would assume the FBI is on the case…. Wouldn’t you just love to find out who they catch? I put my money on a google geek employee working for Soros. Maybe it was Gore, after all he invented the internet so he should have the ability, right? Folks this is all fodder for Republicans to file away for the next election to show what democrats are like.
suzyk on March 11, 2009 at 3:28 PM
Roger that!
JeffVader on March 11, 2009 at 3:32 PM
Not a good year for Coleman.
RepubChica on March 11, 2009 at 3:32 PM
Franken has the get the money to pay all of those back taxes somehow, you know….
Master Shake on March 11, 2009 at 3:33 PM
They dont discriminate man, this sort of theft is such a prevalent crime to cry conspiracy is looney
ernesto on March 11, 2009 at 3:34 PM
No mention of police involvement. That seems rather odd.
-
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We’re so glad you could attend
Come inside! Come inside!
diogenes on March 11, 2009 at 3:37 PM
I’m not accusing Wikileaks of stealing the info. I’m accusing Wikileaks of thinking this is worthy of something to leak ONLY for political purposes.
Skywise on March 11, 2009 at 3:37 PM
The Franken team should be investigated thoroughly.
Franken is a proven liar who doesn’t pay his taxes and is likely the source of this.
He’s got the money and he has the sort of slimeball leftists on his staff who would do something like this.
Investigate Franken, find the perp, jail him and then jail Franken as well.
Problem solved – Coleman gets another term and the criminal Franken gets taken off of the streets.
NoDonkey on March 11, 2009 at 3:38 PM
See the intimidation inherent in the Left.
rbj on March 11, 2009 at 3:38 PM
My bet there is a D after the name of the person who did this. Is acorn around in MN?
L
letget on March 11, 2009 at 3:39 PM
Sounds like a perfect time to bring the full wieght of the rackateering laws to bear. throw some of these geeks in jail for sentences (based on the number of doners = cases)that will far exceed their useful life.
todler on March 11, 2009 at 3:40 PM
I donated to Coleman by credit card. Today I received an e-mail from a person with a Minnesota Independent domain name who said he was a reporter. His message:
That I received this message at all tells me that at the very least, e-mail addresses of donors have gotten loose. Whether the other data like names, addresses, and credit card info remains to be seen.
Cicero43 on March 11, 2009 at 3:41 PM
My bet there is a D after the name of the person who did this. Is acorn around in MN?
L
letget on March 11, 2009 at 3:39 PM
Does a bear take a readers digest and a roll of toilet paper into the woods?
FlyoverJ-HawkFan on March 11, 2009 at 3:53 PM
These two sentences seem a bit confusing, taken together. Can hackers claim information has been released onto the internet by staff simply because the hackers have circumvented firewalls, and use that as a defense?
a capella on March 11, 2009 at 3:55 PM
Wow! The depravity of the Democrat Party is absolutlely breathtaking. Will any of them be brought to justice? Seems as if crime does pay and they are running our country into the ground. Are we going to let them?
BetseyRoss on March 11, 2009 at 3:56 PM
Isn’t this illegal… basically wikileaks is dealing in stolen property, isn’t it?
Y-not on March 11, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Sorry to be bloodthirsty, but this is a scary and intentional crime. I say make it a capital offense. Trial followed by summary execution. If any doubt, life in prison. We do far too much online for this to be tolerated.
BuckeyeSam on March 11, 2009 at 4:03 PM
How is it legal for WikiLeaks to publish people’s private information, hacked illegally from a website, online? If some country succeeds in hacking our nuclear system Wikileaks can just publish it? There has to be a line. What happens when Wikileaks facilitates identify theft?
amerpundit on March 11, 2009 at 4:04 PM
first it was supporters of prop 8 and now its supporters of norm coleman . Can we take the people who do this out into the woods and leave them chained to a tree for the wolves to eat.
Mojack420 on March 11, 2009 at 4:06 PM
This is the 21st century version of Nazi intimidation. Americans, you must take back your country or the brownshirt mentality will be pervasive in America for the forseeable future. The only thing in America that will be exceptional is how far-reaching the apparatus and tentacles of the Obama administration is in imposing absolute despotism in America.
technopeasant on March 11, 2009 at 4:07 PM
You can easily confirm the truth of this by going to wikileaks.org. This is obviously motivated by partisanship, since the press release reads, in part:
That said, the Coleman campaign is very much in the wrong on one point: they should have notified the people in their database promptly when the information was compromised. I understand they were in the middle of a nasty recount, but notification is in fact required by law.
Of course, the slime who feel free to post this on wikileaks are using that fact to justify the release of private information. If this is truly what wikileaks stands for, it should be shut down immediately.
tom on March 11, 2009 at 4:08 PM
Maybe they need the money? With info they seemingly have sounds like they’re going for broke at this point.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/02/wikileaks-has-d.html
Kokonut on March 11, 2009 at 4:09 PM
That’s what I thought. Information hacked by non-campaigners isn’t “released”.
amerpundit on March 11, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Yippee… I’m in the database. Time to call my bank.
Annoying as all hell. Nice job there, Coleman and friends.
strictnein on March 11, 2009 at 4:09 PM
If I were a Coleman donor, I’d be pissed enough to donate more money and perhaps even time.
The FBI will track down the douchebags responsible.
toliver on March 11, 2009 at 4:11 PM
Don’t worry someone will talk,remember people like Col. Ollie North are on our side.
heshtesh on March 11, 2009 at 4:14 PM
Sorry. FBI is occupied right now. They’re still woriking on the “Who is Trig’s REAL Mom” scandal.
BobMbx on March 11, 2009 at 4:16 PM
Is the FBI investigating Franken? This seems just like his style of project.
petunia on March 11, 2009 at 4:17 PM
They’ve already done that.
WikiLeak = 5th Column
BobMbx on March 11, 2009 at 4:18 PM
Meanwhile, Osama Obama’s donor lists remain carefully hidden away….
I suspect at worst Coleman received one or two “bad” donations. The child-president’s list of questionable/illegal/ineligible donors no doubt is numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
Justice in the world of Hopenchange.
MrScribbler on March 11, 2009 at 4:20 PM
So long as Coleman sticks to his guns, Franken green lights assassination.
Rather re-take the OK Corral election.
maverick muse on March 11, 2009 at 4:30 PM
Gee, I wonder who’s behind this??
drjohn on March 11, 2009 at 4:43 PM
Problem is that they may have suspected that somthing was wonky on their network… seen a couple of footy prints… but was not sure what was hacked until people started getting these emails.
A script kiddy will leave easily scene tracks… a good hacker or data cowboy can often get in and out without you knowing it…
Key is that this is a Direct threat to Democracy in America. Its WIRE FRAUD which brings in the Secret Service. Its a conspiracy to Blackmail, which brings in the FBI… and its international connections may very well bring in the CIA, as this is a threat to the Democratic process.
Romeo13 on March 11, 2009 at 4:50 PM
I’m sorry Ed, but Minnesota is now the California of the Midwest.
Montana on March 11, 2009 at 4:50 PM
Democrats… the party of Identity Theft
malclave on March 11, 2009 at 5:10 PM
See people need to start using Amex or Visa gift cards online…it’s too risky to use your own credit cards.
zembla on March 11, 2009 at 5:13 PM
I’m sure it can/can’t be done? The FBI has done internet/hacking/virus/worms investigations far more challenging than this. But, who’s the un-president? DoJ isn’t going to look too hard, they know it will root back to Soros. Jobs are scarce these days.
JoeySlippers on March 11, 2009 at 5:13 PM
I’m in there too and just cancelled my credit card. Just goes to show “No good deed goes unpunished”
waterlootian on March 11, 2009 at 5:20 PM
How come these hackers are Scumocrats or spammers…why can’t they ever be conservatives and do stuff like hack into, oh, I don’t know, ACORN or Planned Parenthood?
On second thought, they probably know they would be crucified if they dared mess with Communist sites.
Dr. ZhivBlago on March 11, 2009 at 5:22 PM
????????
since when is wiki a “trusted” media source,trusted by whom?
UNREPENTANT CONSERVATIVE CAPITOLIST on March 11, 2009 at 5:25 PM
What have you got against the poor wolves that you want to poison them?
tcn on March 11, 2009 at 5:29 PM
Boy I sure am glad that MN officials told us this wasn’t going to be like Florida 2000. The differences between the two are becoming far more “nuanced.”
highhopes on March 11, 2009 at 5:36 PM
Maybe some body will return the favor and do unto them.
Col.John Wm. Reed on March 11, 2009 at 5:38 PM
The real question here is if the terrorist-supporter AG is going to pursue this as a federal crime or not. At a minimum, it impedes the election process.
Sadly, with the filthy liar in the White House, there is no such thing a criminal if the ends justify the means.
highhopes on March 11, 2009 at 5:38 PM
Where is the FBI on this? This is a serious crime.
Maxx on March 11, 2009 at 5:43 PM
The attacks on the election process from the left in the last few election cycles should get us all stocking up on guns and ammo.
Oh, wait! We already started that last November!
MoCoM on March 11, 2009 at 5:53 PM
How far back does this go?
How do dems continue to set new lows?
They are like an infection in this state.
oakpack on March 11, 2009 at 6:02 PM
Guys, I think it’s important that we not attack Wikileaks over this. The information was ALREADY on the internet by the time Wikileaks got ahold of it. They were the FIRST to start contacting victims of the theft, even before the Coleman campaign.
HERE is the article on Wikileaks.
From the article:
(emphasis mine)
Sounds like they did their due diligence and the Coleman campaign did NOT.
I would say that whomever is responsible for not making this public immediately on the Coleman campaign should be summarily dismissed. I just hope it wasn’t Coleman himself, but rather some staffer that boned this one.
wearyman on March 11, 2009 at 6:09 PM
Wow, who would imagine that someone would coerce voters and supporters?!? No, that would never happen (paging ACORN)…
Geministorm on March 11, 2009 at 6:13 PM
Anybody seen Tennessee Senator Kernell’s son lately? What’s he been up to?
Geministorm on March 11, 2009 at 6:17 PM
Well, I guess I’m lucky… I already had to cancel out my debit card that I used to donate to Coleman…. Due to another hacker on an e-commerce site stealing CC info. ‘My’ hacker is in Vietnam, so he will never be punished for his crimes conducted from a communist state.
At least when they catch Coleman’s hacker he will be punished for his crimes; because America, unlike Vietnam is……
Oh, Wait….
Nevermind.
LegendHasIt on March 11, 2009 at 6:18 PM
I guess informing the FBI does not count as due diligence?
And yes, I STILL attack Wikileaks for publishing the private information of donors as part of a political attack.
Skywise on March 11, 2009 at 6:30 PM
I am pretty sure wolves don’t eat carrion, however, you could dip them in honey and stake them out on an ant hill.
Lily on March 11, 2009 at 7:07 PM
Can someone please hack obozo’s donor list so we can all see exactly how many foreigners contributed?
txag92 on March 11, 2009 at 7:16 PM
Wikileaks needs to grow a conscience. There’s some stuff that should never be posted. They could have posted the names after redacting the card numbers, but the guys running wikileaks must really have no consciences.
Here’s the guys to sue:
The server is in sweden, but the guys running the “privacy cover” are local registrars, and own the domain name. “Deep pockets” apply here, as does RICO.
unclesmrgol on March 11, 2009 at 9:36 PM
I just looked at the file and bingo! Just got off the phone to cancel my card. Bastards. FBI better check on Schumer, and where are Katie Barge and Lauren Weiner working? Obambi administration perhaps?
2ipa on March 12, 2009 at 1:03 AM
They are the criminals, They are not wearing “white hats” in this matter. The Coleman campaign is a victim, as is every person whose card was put up.
For those of you here who have had to cancel your cards, is “wearyman” right — did you get any notification from Wikileaks before they put up your data?
unclesmrgol on March 12, 2009 at 1:43 AM
Dare to Cheat, Dare to Win!!!
Marxist Party Mantra. . .
thaDeetz on March 12, 2009 at 1:55 AM
Did they know? They were unsure how deep the hack went, and, if they are truthful, the FBI told them everything was copasetic. I doubt the Coleman campaign was running their own merchant software — that’s normally a function you hire out, and your server proxies to the provider. My guess is that either somewhere on Coleman’s servers were keys used to access the merchant account, or the keys were not strong keys and the hackers guessed. In any case, the materials the hackers got were almost certainly not on Coleman’s server(s).
I have a feeling that this information which attacks many private individuals goes way beyond the “government secrets” stuff for which wikileaks had been noted. I feel the same way about wikileaks now as I feel about the guys who out zero-day exploits — pompous low-life scum. I was a minor fan of wikileaks, but no more.
unclesmrgol on March 12, 2009 at 1:56 AM
.
If I remember the Quote from Time Spike by Eric Flint and Marilyn Kosmatka correctly “the scent indicated that the prey had the most highly sought after commodity of prey, it was already dead.
.
But either way I think it would constitute crulty to animals.
darktood on March 12, 2009 at 7:18 AM
They were the target but their donors are the victim.
Coleman is guilty of not putting up the effort to properly secure the information. There is no way that this private information should be hacked if the campaign invested in a properly secured network and disciplined use of the donor database.
Odds are someone had it on an unsecured Windows station off the server or even off the network. A lot of “hacking” is actually just taking advantage of lazy, careless saps working for your target organization. Coleman’s campaign should be held liable by their donors in the event of any real loss.
rcl on March 12, 2009 at 7:18 AM
Since I know everyone here is more interested in learning the truth than they are in finding a random excuse to attack Al Franken…
From http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_11891772
Former Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign didn’t do enough to protect donors’ confidential information, and Wednesday that lapse came home to roost as more than 4,700 partial credit card numbers were posted on the Internet.
As data-privacy and security experts criticized the campaign’s handling of a confidential donor database, the Republican and his aides suggested partisan motives — and told donors they should cancel their credit cards. [...]
As recently as late January, databases of thousands of Coleman’s donors and assorted contacts sat on a public portion of the campaign’s Web site. They were not password-protected, so a Minneapolis consultant was able to find them by essentially surfing the Web. And the credit card numbers weren’t encrypted — a violation of credit card industry standards, according to several experts.
Kelly McShane, whose job is to secure information in the banking industry, said he learned that the last four digits of his American Express card — and the four-digit security code used to verify the card — were posted online when a reporter e-mailed him.
“I’m in IT security for a bank, and I can tell you that this is so … irresponsible that I can’t believe it,” said McShane, who had donated $100 to the campaign online.
orange on March 12, 2009 at 11:59 AM
No e-mails from anyone. I heard about it here.
2ipa on March 12, 2009 at 6:10 PM