Al Gore's Blog Hacked
Al Gore's blog -- in which the former presidential candidate-turned-celebrity environmentalist posts updates on global warming and the documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth' -- has been hacked. But it's likely you'd never know it by looking at the thing.
That's because most of the hack work is hidden. The hackers in this case gained access to the site through a security hole, then inserted hidden links into the blog posts. To see them, check out our gallery of screens below. Hidden in the source code of the site, we found link after link pointing to drugs like Xanax, Viagra, Tramadol, and just about any other drug you can think of. Not terribly riveting, we know, but we just wanted to offer you some proof.
So what's the point of hidden links that you can't see? The answer lies in the results you get on search engines like Google. By hijacking a very popular site like Al Gore's, the hackers can get their own pages more prominently placed in search results on Google. That's because these links can be seen by Google's crawler, which runs through the hidden code of Web pages to figure out where to direct you should you search for something like, say, Xanax. Since these links appear in a very prominent page, in this case Gore's blog, Google's engine thinks they are important, so people who later search for Xanax in Google might very well be redirected to the hacker's Web site over another.
Interestingly, the links point to another site that also seems to have been hacked, making this literal web of intrigue a bit thicker. Don't worry, it's nothing to fear on your end as far as security or viruses are concerened. It's also doubtful that the guilty party will ever be caught, but we're hoping that Al calls his system administrator in short order and gets those links removed. This kind of pollution, at least, is easily cleaned. Unfortunately, right now, some poor chump is probably buying Viagra from the company that employed these hackers to give them Google search prominence.
Gallery: Al Gore Hacked
From PC World
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Malissa @ Nov 27th 2007 11:55AM
Jan, Jan, Jan...Leave that man ALONE for Pete's sake!!!!
Donna @ Nov 27th 2007 12:48PM
He's not worth commenting about. An overweight zealot and tree hugger if I ever saw one. Blah, blah, blah.
Vivi @ Nov 27th 2007 1:11PM
Can't comment about anyone I never read anything about.
Greg @ Nov 27th 2007 1:37PM
He may have won the election in 2001, and he has done commendable work since then. But he is too out in left field.
Hope @ Nov 27th 2007 1:45PM
Another dimwit, dumb ass, nincompoop, nimrod parroting the same old pathetic recycled shit. A bored pathetic sorry excuse for a person.
hickoryhillsjim @ Nov 27th 2007 1:48PM
Why does he need Viagra when he doesn't have any balls? A eunuch has more balls than he does.
russ horton @ Nov 27th 2007 2:01PM
America was very fortunate that this man was not President on 9/11 the amount of Americans dead would be tremendous.. He is truly mentally disturbed.....
dan k @ Nov 27th 2007 2:04PM
Hope, you described the Chimp and Cheney perfectly
dan k @ Nov 27th 2007 2:06PM
If Gore did not have the election stolen, 911 might have been prevented. The toll would be no higher, but the response would have been more EFFECTIVE...The Chimp cares about nothing but looting the treasury to benefit the richest
dan k @ Nov 27th 2007 2:08PM
Tree hugging is a problem? Will we be better off totally deforested, to benefit a rich few?
dan k @ Nov 27th 2007 2:13PM
The Chimp and 'pubs had total control of all areas of govt for 6 years...even now, the Chimp blocks any attept to right the ship
so, Chimp-lickers, are we in a perfect Utopia yet? They have had time to do ANYTHING they wanted to do...still blaming "liberals" for everything? On what basis?
TheChimp did find time to put us into horrific debt to benefit the wealthiest
R Massey @ Nov 27th 2007 2:15PM
A Viagra site if very fitting for such a Dickhead.
dan k @ Nov 27th 2007 2:15PM
The losers hitting Al for being fat are mostly trailer-park Rush listeners weighing about 3 bills
dan k @ Nov 27th 2007 2:26PM
Chickenhawk 'pubs like Chimp and Cheney are the NO-est of the No-Balls
dan k @ Nov 27th 2007 2:29PM
Greg, he is not too far in left field..but, being too far in right field for so long, sure hasn't gotten us anywhere good
William @ Nov 27th 2007 2:32PM
Maybe he needs help since hugging something hard like a tree is probably not as fulfilling as his Greenie buddies led him to believe.
So, he quietly makes deal to advertise for Viagra, saying he will blame hackers, in return for a new 'hardening' to hug.
Makes sense. More than the Political spin He tries to put on it.
sharks @ Nov 27th 2007 2:35PM
We need more people like Gore, many more.
KEITH @ Nov 27th 2007 2:35PM
He should know how to deal with hackers since he invented the internet. Sorry Bas*ard
doc @ Nov 27th 2007 2:39PM
dan k says:
If Gore did not have the election stolen, 911 might have been prevented. The toll would be no higher, but the response would have been more EFFECTIVE...The Chimp cares about nothing but looting the treasury to benefit the richest
11/27/07 2:06 PM
gee dan, your shrill gay agenda is showing, again.
goplies @ Nov 27th 2007 2:51PM
Rusty Whoreton: Is this a projection of your own issues?
Why are there so many right wing haters on this site? Perhaps the right wing hackers are in this crowd?