Could Romanian hacker ‘Guccifer’ assist FBI’s probe of Clinton?

[think]

Could Romanian hacker ‘Guccifer’ assist FBI’s probe of Clinton?

By Julian Hattem - 05/26/16 05:37 PM EDT

A Romanian hacker’s plea deal to cooperate with the government is raising questions about whether he might be called upon to assist in the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton.

The hacker “Guccifer,” whose real name is Marcel Lehel Lazar, has not been able to prove his claims that he broke into the private server Clinton used when she was secretary of State, and the government has never publicly linked him with the case.

But Lazar first exposed Clinton's unorthodox private email account by hacking an email account of one of her longtime confidants, Sidney Blumenthal, and questions have swirled for months about whether he would be able to assist the FBI probe.

“We’ll find out pretty soon if there’s a 'there' there with him,” said Morgan Wright, a cybersecurity consultant who has worked with law enforcement officials.

~Snip~

But the methods he discussed would be the “textbook” way to access a system, according to Wright, and Clinton has repeatedly declined to outline the security methods she used to protect her data...

Read more:
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/281440-could-romanian-hacker-guccifer-assist-fbis-probe-of-clinton

[notadmblnd]

1. Would one even have to hack a wide open server?

I mean if one can just connect to the IP address and they're in, where's the hack?

[Reiyuki]

11. Put differently: Would there be evidence of a home break-in if the front door was left open? (nt)

[BlueNoMatterWho]

2. Especially if no password was even used?

[mythology]

3. Considering he's not a hacker, no he didn't "hack" the Clinton server

He used social engineering to gain access to some email accounts, he didn't hack anything. If AOL and Facebook had better security policies around random guessing of passwords from suspect locations, or the people involved had bothered to implement two factor authentication, this nobody would have remained a nobody.

His description of scanning for open ports and presto he's in the server doesn't pass the laugh test. This guy is a joke and it's sad watching people desperately cling to the hope that this will finally be the thing that hands Sanders the nomination he didn't win.

[Bob41213]

4. Sounds like he has "script kiddie" credentials in addition to his social engineering.

And that woulda been enough to get into this iron fortress of security called clintonmail.

[NWCorona]

6. Hillary's Web log in site allowed brute force so there's that.

[Skid Rogue]

9. Have you got a link to that?

Not a snark, just a simple question.

[Bob41213]

12. Here's a couple...

Both basically say the same thing. OWA susceptible to brute force attacks.

"The government and security firms have published warnings about allowing this kind of remote access to Clinton’s server. The same software was targeted by an infectious internet worm, known as Morta, which exploited weak passwords to break into servers. The software also was known to be vulnerable to brute-force attacks that tried password combinations until hackers broke in, and in some cases it could be tricked into revealing sensitive details about a server to help hackers formulate attacks."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-gregg/six-ways-hillary-clintons_b_8071822.html
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/13/hillary-clinton-email-server-connection-vulnerable-to-hackers

[catnhatnh]

8. If Facebook and AOL security are the guys you fault

for server intrusions you are truly through the looking glass.

[Lurks Often]

5. Since they extradited him from Romania and gave him a plea deal, that would be Yes

The FBI & DOJ did not give immunity to Pagliano unless they first have proof that Pagliano committed one or more felonies AND feel Pagliano's testimony can get them a felony conviction of someone higher up then him.

The FBI & DOJ did not extradite "Guccifer" from Romania and apparently give him a plea deal in exchange for testimony unless they feel "Guccifer's" testimony will lead to a felony conviction of someone involved in the server investigation, whether that is Hillary, Blumenthal or a senior Clinton aide remains to be seen. A felony conviction of Blumenthal or a senior Clinton aide would be very damaging to her campaign.

The FBI/DOJ investigation has been going on since August of 2015, the FBI & DOJ are NOT going to waste roughly 10 months of time, money and personnel resources if there was nothing there.

I do believe there is something this investigation. I don't think Sanders can win a general election and no Clinton supporter who refuses to even consider there could be something to this investigation is in denial and is not going to change my mind or get an answer.

[HereSince1628]

7. Seems just as likely Guccifer will be used against Sid Blumenthal n/t

[amborin]

10. part of his plea deal?

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Yes just read the plea deal

It was...generous