From the perspective of newsworthiness, Wikileak’s Podesta emails have been totally weird. Amidst revelations about an ex-Blink-182 member’s belief in extraterrestrial life, and Podesta’s own advice on cooking risotto, Trump supporters on a variety of imageboards have been sifting through the emails for anything compromising. Last night it seems they hit paydirt.
Many of the leaked emails contained contact info, cell phone numbers, and account data, none of which was redacted by Wikileaks before being posted. With this information accessible to anyone with the time and energy to read through it all, users on 4chan’s /pol/ (politically incorrect) board were able to gain access to Podesta’s Twitter account, tweeting a message in support of Trump.
Imageboard posters also stumbled on an email containing Podesta’s Apple ID—and appear to have exploited it. “iPad/iPhone info and data wiped out,” a post on Endchan claimed, show screenshots of what seems to be the hacker gaining access to Find My iPhone using Podesta’s credentials.
If Podesta’s Apple ID was compromised, it stands to reason that his iCloud account was similarly vulnerable. And sure enough, Redditor’s on r/The_Donald claim Podesta’s iCloud data was downloaded. “Craziest 90 minutes I’ve ever experienced on 4chan,” Redditor AsphaltBellyflop wrote, “Worth the 2 day dox ban for sure.”
A hacker also appears to have uncovered the passwords to dozens of senators’ email addresses, as well as social security numbers and credit card info for many Democrats including Vice President Joe Biden, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and acting Chair of the DNC Donna Brazile. The information was posted to pastebin.
“I am not directly linked with the podesta [sic] hacks,” the hacker, who asked that their name not be used, told Gizmodo over Twitter DM. “I can say that the details in Podesta leaks where helpful in conducting phishing attacks for the DNC members before the leaks emerged on Wikileaks.”
Some would say that not redacting personal information makes Julian Assange a dangerous and irresponsible asshole. And those people would be right. Especially since it’s not the first time he has done it.
We’ve reached out to the Clinton campaign to confirm if these hacks have taken place and will update if we hear back.