Hacker Intruded into System of Le Pen, Stole Secret List

A hacker pilfered confidential information from a system in the office of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the French far-right leader, said police in a statement reported by Reuters, UK on March 5, 2007, adding to his fears that the members of the opposite party used it to keep him out of the race for presidential elections.

The police reported in a statement that the hacker exploited an Internet Website to crack sign in records to access the list of French officials who had conditionally agreed to support Le Pen in the elections. Reuters reported that an employee of National Front Party (Le Pen's party), who worked on the breached computer, was detained briefly.

The National Front Party is a far-right, nationalist political party in France. Jean-Marie Le Pen founded it in 1972. The security violation at the headquarters of the party comes as the canvassing stepped up ahead of the April and May 2007 presidential elections with many candidates facing slandering scandals in last weeks.

Le Pen shocked the whole nation when he finished second in the presidential election in 2002. He is struggling now to secure the support if atleast five hundred elected French officials to win this time.

Le Pen stated in a statement reported by The Register on March 5, 2007 that rivals have done their best to prevent officials, including parliamentarians, mayors, and other politicians from supporting him. He solicited police to inquire about the case after suspecting a counterspy had leaked the confidential list.

This is the second investigation of pilfered election data in France in as many weeks. News of the computer intrusion came just after a week when the Socialist party asked for a probe into, according to it, was a wave of break-ins targeting its canvassing team.

Le Pen believes opponents to exploiting the stolen data to keep him out of the race of the presidential elections. He had until March 16, 2007 to get the support of atleast five hundred elected officials of France, including mayors and parliamentarians, to become a contender. He says he is short of hundred and charged a far-right opponent of trying to lure his sponsors.

Despite getting 16.8% votes in 2002 and came out as a successful candidate, the National Front Party of Le Pen doesn't have any mayors. So he has searched the whole country for months to find supporters.

Related article: Hacker & Virus in MySpace

» SPAMfighter News - 3/20/2007