# I pit the DNC's IT staff and the media **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 17, 2016, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923 "2016-12-17T12:58:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/1 "2016-12-17T12:58:55Z")
> **[Is this the email that hacked John Podesta's account? | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/28/politics/phishing-email-hack-john-podesta-hillary-clinton-wikileaks/index.html)** > > A phishing email sent to Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta may have been so sophisticated that it fooled the campaign's own IT staffers, who at one point advised him it was a legitimate warning to change his password. Turns out that the “sophisticated” hack on John Podesta’s email was a phishing email. He even consulted IT staff and they told him to go ahead and click on the link and change his password. How much are these IT people who can be fooled by phishing emails getting paid? And why does the media call this “sophisticated”? Because they were smart enough to make the address look like it might be legit? Any IT person with an ounce of sense knows that even if such an email was legit, you don’t click on the link to change your password, you actually go to your account and do it from there. Since Podesta was probably already in his account, that’s what his IT staff should have told him to do! Where did the DNC find these people? And then the media reports today that the RNC was targeted as well. And that their “security” stopped the email. Their security did nothing of the sort! The guy the Russians targeted just didn’t work there anymore! ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/2 "2016-12-17T14:07:31Z")
In reading the news reports I have read in several of the accounts that the security consultant of the DNC was called by the FBI but did not take real action as he claimed he had not any way to tell if it was only a prank call of someone pretending to be the FBI… How is it that the idea of getting a call from the FBI is not verifiable? Is it really not possible for someone to call back to an FBI center and to have a validation of the identity? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/3 "2016-12-17T14:31:18Z")
Obviously, the FBI should’ve sent Podesta an e-mail explaining that he should _click here to win a free security consultation from the Federal Bureau of Investigation_. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/4 "2016-12-17T14:43:09Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > How much are these IT people who can be fooled by phishing emails getting paid? And why does the media call this “sophisticated”? Because they were smart enough to make the address look like it might be legit? It was a [typo](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-typo_us_58505fe4e4b0e411bfd415e2). According to huffpo, the person in question meant to type “illegitimate” instead of “legitimate.” Of course, that doesn’t explain the improper article (“a legitimate” vs “an illegimate”). ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/5 "2016-12-17T14:47:20Z")
From the Smoking Gun… > [@](#): > > On March 19, a Saturday, Podesta received an e-mail–purportedly from Google–warning him that, “Someone has your password.” The alert (seen above) informed Podesta that a sign-in attempt from an IP address in Ukraine was thwarted and that, “You should change your password immediately.” > > The e-mail, addressed “Hi John,” included a blue “CHANGE PASSWORD” box to be clicked. > > As TSG reported in August, similar messages were sent to the Gmail accounts of scores of other Clinton campaign officials around the time Podesta received the phony alert. An identical e-mail–containing the exact Ukrainian IP address–was received on March 22 by William Rinehart, a campaign organizer. The IP address included in the e-mails received by Podesta and Rinehart traces back to Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecommunications company. Podesta was a dumb ass for sure, at this point everyone should be able to recognize a phishing attempt, but let’s also pit the ones who did the phishing. The Russians. You Republicans aren’t saying shit about any of THAT. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/6 "2016-12-17T14:59:04Z")
I thought Podesta’s e-mails were not DNC emails, but were from his personal account, which is why he fell for a google alert phishing scam and his emails were full of things like his risotto recipe. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/7 "2016-12-17T15:12:34Z")
> [@bmoak](#): > > I thought Podesta’s e-mails were not DNC emails, but were from his personal account, which is why he fell for a google alert phishing scam and his emails were full of things like his risotto recipe. Wiki describes 'em by saying [“many of which were work-related”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podesta_emails), specifically making mention of “the inner workings of the Clinton campaign” as well as excerpts from “the Wall Street speeches” (including the famous bit about how her dream involves open trade and open borders). I guess he used his personal e-mail address for both. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/8 "2016-12-17T15:18:10Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > It was a [typo](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-typo_us_58505fe4e4b0e411bfd415e2). According to huffpo, the person in question meant to type “illegitimate” instead of “legitimate.” > > Of course, that doesn’t explain the improper article (“a legitimate” vs “an illegimate”). It seems strange to write illigetimate email, no? Why not say “this is a phishing”? The excuse of a typo seems strange to me. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/9 "2016-12-17T15:23:40Z")
> [@Ramira](#): > > It seems strange to write illigetimate email, no? Why not say “this is a phishing”? The excuse of a typo seems strange to me. My theory it is just a made up excuse to make Hillary and the other big wigs look less incompetent. Hey, WE listened to our guy! It’s the peon that fucked up! We will ignore that fact that they often did NOT listen to the peons and/or apparently HIRED stupid ones in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/10 "2016-12-17T15:23:46Z")
> [@Ramira](#): > > In reading the news reports I have read in several of the accounts that the security consultant of the DNC was called by the FBI but did not take real action as he claimed he had not any way to tell if it was only a prank call of someone pretending to be the FBI… > > How is it that the idea of getting a call from the FBI is not verifiable? Is it really not possible for someone to call back to an FBI center and to have a validation of the identity? I’ve gotten calls from the “IRS” saying that they are sending the police to arrest me for non-payment of taxes unless I wire them money RIGHT NOW. These calls are spoofed to appear to be from the main IRS phone number in DC. Also, despite FBI HQ being about ten minutes away from the DNC, they apparently thought they did their due diligence by calling the DNC receptionist, who forwarded the call to an IT person, who apparently didn’t think the call was real and kick it up the ladder until much later. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/11 "2016-12-17T15:25:28Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Wiki describes 'em by saying [“many of which were work-related”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podesta_emails), specifically making mention of “the inner workings of the Clinton campaign” as well as excerpts from “the Wall Street speeches” (including the famous bit about how her dream involves open trade and open borders). I guess he used his personal e-mail address for both. But these wouldn’t be DNC emails on the DNC server through a DNC account. I thought many of emails are years old and predate Hillary’s presidential campaign ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/12 "2016-12-17T15:34:50Z")
> [@Ramira](#): > > In reading the news reports I have read in several of the accounts that the security consultant of the DNC was called by the FBI but did not take real action as he claimed he had not any way to tell if it was only a prank call of someone pretending to be the FBI… > > How is it that the idea of getting a call from the FBI is not verifiable? Is it really not possible for someone to call back to an FBI center and to have a validation of the identity? Back when I was working, I used to tell people to never give out any information to an incoming phone call. If somebody identified themselves as a police officer, I’d ask them for the name of their department and their extension. Then I’d call information and get the phone number for that department and use that number to call them back. But my security paranoia was generally one way. If I called a police department, they would usually accept me identifying myself and make no attempt to verify I was in law enforcement. And I used to be issuing arrest warrants. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/13 "2016-12-17T15:42:54Z")
> [@bmoak](#): > > But these wouldn’t be DNC emails on the DNC server through a DNC account. I thought many of emails are years old and predate Hillary’s presidential campaign Well, look, it’s entirely possible that many of them _are_ years old and predate the presidential campaign – _and_ that many of them are much more recent: being sent or received during the campaign, and involving said campaign. I mean, if Podesta (a) is the kind of guy who typically doesn’t bother to delete his old emails, and who (b) just kept using his personal email address when folks needed to communicate with him about the campaign – well, then, the whole thing pretty much fits together, doesn’t it? If he’s obliging enough to click on the link and type in the info, then folks could get a risotto recipe from personal correspondence back before the campaign was in full swing – _and_ they’d also get businesslike discussions of political info from the days when the campaign was up and running. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/14 "2016-12-17T16:17:48Z")
My point is that, contrary to the thread starter’s assertions, the DNC was not responsible for John Podesta’s email security. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/15 "2016-12-17T16:36:54Z")
> [@bmoak](#): > > I thought Podesta’s e-mails were not DNC emails, but were from his personal account, which is why he fell for a google alert phishing scam and his emails were full of things like his risotto recipe. Is the recipe any good? I might like to try it! > [@](#): > > My point is that, contrary to the thread starter’s assertions, the DNC was not responsible for John Podesta’s email security. Apparently that was their first mistake. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/16 "2016-12-17T16:51:06Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Is the recipe any good? I might like to try it! > > . Uma Abaden’s Weiner recipe is so good it should be criminal! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/17 "2016-12-17T19:14:23Z")
So, really, when you look at it the right way, Putin was _entrapped_ by the DNC. Which went around wearing those provocative clothes, those “phish me!” skirts and shoes! Probably knew that Trump was going to win in a massive landslide of minus three million, and wanted a back-up plan! Probably depended on the strictly non-partisan Comey to unmask the plot, but didn’t count on his being too wrapped up with Anthony Weiner’s national security dick pics. Got that about right, there, **addy**? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/18 "2016-12-17T19:27:16Z")
Wow, that’s like, not even close to what the OP is about. Try this: Campus security guards allows known rapist to visit girls’ dorm. Security guards are not at all to blame if one of the girls is raped??? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/19 "2016-12-17T19:30:24Z")
I must have missed his deeply mournful tone of shock, horror and dismay. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923/20 "2016-12-17T19:35:16Z")
> [@bmoak](#): > > My point is that, contrary to the thread starter’s assertions, the DNC was not responsible for John Podesta’s email security. No. But [DNC was successfully phished as well](https://www.buzzfeed.com/sheerafrenkel/russian-hackers-faked-gmail-password-form-to-invade-dnc-emai?utm_term=.qn5bZqYXDm#.jmYjY0V8MK). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-dncs-it-staff-and-the-media/774923.md?page=2)