Video Raises Doubts About Attkisson's Claims of Malicious Hacking

Was former CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson's computer hacked? Earlier claims that it was are being scoffed at by some security experts, after looking at cellphone video she has released intended to demonstrate that an intruder was deleting files. The video, say various commentators, may instead just indicate a stuck or faulty backspace key. It could be that both things are true (a stuck backspace key, as well as malicious intrusion targeting Attkisson for her political reporting), but it would be helpful to know more of the details on which CBS's (unnamed) hired experts concluded that her machine was breached.

Comments

Disappearing files

[Anonymous Coward]

but files disappearing character by character is exactly what happens in movies! Surely it must be the same in real life? Hollywood wouldn't lie to me?!?!

Re:Disappearing files

[Travis Mansbridge]

The real kicker is after she selects a huge block of text which is then, of course, deleted, she goes to quit Word and saves over the previous revision. The only one deleting actual data in the video is her, herself.

Clean out your keyboard!

[SternisheFan]

FTA: " Peter Theobald, computer forensics investigator with TC Forensics in Syosset N.Y., said that while he would not be "terribly surprised to find out that someone in the government could or would hack her," he also did not think the video proved "anything."

"If a hacker were to infiltrate her laptop and delete her files there would be better ways to do it, it wouldn't be so obvious to her," Theobald said. "It did not look like a hacker attack to me."

All of the experts agreed that hackers would more typically use other methods to delete documents from a computer.

"The way to do it wouldn't be to hold down the delete key," explained Sam Plainfield, of Syntax Technical Computer Forensics in San Francisco, which is what he thinks appears to be happening in the video. Instead, "you wouldn't see a visual indicator that files are deleting, [they are] just gone."

Brothers-McGrew noted "in our experience if you have the ability to be able to access and submit keystrokes on someone's computer, you generally have system level access where you can just delete or modify the file yourself. The user would not ordinarily see what is going on."

He added, "If the government were in there they would most likely be doing it without making themselves known."