Fundamentals of Interactive Journalism

It seems that Sarah Palin just had one more bad day with another incident notched under her belt. 

Several days ago, a group of hackers got a hold of Palin’s Yahoo e-mail account and posted screenshots on a site called WikiLeakS that was immediately shut down after gaining attention. The group known as “Anonymous” , if many are not aware of , proclaimed war on the Church of Scientology earlier this year by prohibiting access to one of its websites.

Here is a video they posted on YouTube.

WikiLeak, not WikiLeakS, a blog exploring ethical issues recently issued a statement “politely” berating curious page browsers for coming on its site searching for information on Palin.

“If you are stupid enough to mistake or mistype wikileak.org (without an “s“) for WikiLeakS.org, whilst you are searching for illegal material then do not blame us.” 

This may, or if already have, raise questions on the security of personal e-mail accounts. Just imagine previous years of all the gossip, arguments and family conversations that could possibly still linger across cyberspace end up in the hands of a crafty hacker.

The government plans to have a database that will hold the following:

“ details of every phone call, e-mail and time spent on the internet by the public….as part of the fight against crime and terrorism. Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecoms companies would hand over the records to the Home Office under plans put forward by officials.”

The information will be held for about a year.

But keep in mind the sites that exist to show enthusiasts how to hack e-mails, however, don’t fret because there are sites that educate users to be aware and cautious.

On a lighter note. Here is a video that made headlines on CNN in wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch purchase. Try and guess these two individuals.