We have absolutely no idea how this post appeared, however it does appear
someone has been accessing his account. The short password has now been changed
to something more secure. In past two days he has removed a number of posts from
his own YouTube videos which had appeared without authorisation. We will be
monitoring the account carefully and can't rule out the activities of our
opponents.
I can totally see why Mark Pack and others might have thought the worst and can't blame them for highlighting it. Sometimes the story is not quite as good as one first thinks.
Weak.
ReplyDeleteSo no doubt Tim Ireland will be the first to offer apologies all round!
ReplyDeleteVery very weak.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Iain, I don't remember you being so understanding when this clot starting throwing around accusations about LibDems paying for posters... and I cannot recall seeing any evidence about that ever being produced.
I trust we won't be seeing Shapps put in charge of the nuclear codes any time soon...
ReplyDeleteSorry, just don't believe the denial. If some malicious hoaxer had managed to get into Grant Shapps' youtube account, and then decided to wreak havoc by posting embarrassing things under his name, he could have done far, far better than this.
ReplyDeletePut it like this: what a remarkable coincidence that what looks like a cocked-up attempt at astroturfing to sabotage the Lib Dem campaign in a byelection just happens to be posted under Grant Shapps' name, just as if he'd tried to do it himself but accidentally forgotten to log in under his new name.
Anyone shaving with Ockham's Razor today?
So, either he's a clot who can't astroturf properly, or he's a clot who thinks an easily guessable four character password is secure...
ReplyDeleteI suppose he could always ask Youtube to investigate the IP addresses used for the allegedly fake postings - you never know, that might catch out the LibDims in a spot of reverse astroturfing... :-)
Hopefully he's changed his passwords on (say) his online banking and the Conservative Party network?
ReplyDeleteWhere have all the good astro-turfers gone?
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty unbelievable that the head of campaigning would spend his time doing this sort of nonsense (unless it was Tom Watson).
"Sometimes the story isn't as good as one first thinks..."
ReplyDeleteYes, a bit like that one about Councillor Zahida Noori defecting to the Tories!
Ha, Ha Ha, Ha!
You're doing well here Iain, as many as one out of six posters on here actually believe Shapps' cock-and-bull story... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI mean, what kind of e-campaigning "expert" uses 1234 as a password?
I hope he knows where his bank cards are...
Bollocks didn't he.
ReplyDeleteLib Dems hacking into his YouTube account and pretending to be him pretending to be someone else? What twisted minds they have.
ReplyDeleteLIB DEMS CAN'T PLAY FAIR HERE
So he knew for two days that 'unauthorised' comments were appearing - presumably meaning comments appearing to come from him - and he just kept deleting the comments rather than changing his password?
ReplyDeleteYeeeah. Someone should tell CCHQ, and Shapps, to stop digging. He, or someone acting on his behalf, was caught red-handed - the least he can do is own up to it.
Nice try Iain. Honourable attempt at standing up for him. It almost sounds like you actually believe the excuse.
ReplyDeleteYou have to think, if someone managed to hack into Grant's youtube profile, why would they just post a random post like that. Don't think so. Its obviously him and he should have admitted it.
Its not the act thats annoying, its the dihonesty when being caught red handed.
Dale.....are you taking the piss re this by any chance?
ReplyDeleteI reckon he either did it,or knew it was being done. He is a prize knob. If he didn't-then go to YouTube for the IPs as suggested-SUPERB opportunity to smear the LDs who are your competition after all.
PS. I won £250 off of my Lib Dem poster..... ;) RIIIIIIIIGHT
|N|B|W|
Surely, surely, someone wanting to use Shapps' account maliciously would post porn or somesuch rather than make an obviously mucked up attempt to astroturf. I'm afraid it sounds like Grant is trying to spare his blushes rather than fessin' up, which isn't a terribly honourable thing to do, especially so soon after happily casting spurious aspersions about the Lib Dems and their posters.
ReplyDeleteShould point that in order to get into Shapps' YouTube account, our 'mystery commentor' would need to know the exact e-mail address used to register the account (which YouTube doesn't disclose) as well as 'guess' the password.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to implicate someone you wouldnt go round posting porn to a site would you. You would do something that other would immediately think was possible and astroturfing falls into that category.
ReplyDeleteMind you its still a pretty minor offence compared to illegally raising 14m ponds to fight the last election!
Iain, maybe it's time to put a glossary on the site... in spite of other comments here, I can't be the only ill-informed visitor to this blog when it comes to buzzwords. Even having read that original LibDem blog I don't know what "astroturfing" is supposed to signify. This would suggest it's not a very useful buzzword - the best ones tend to be self-evident.
ReplyDeleteI am deeply sceptical of Mr Shapps' excuse.
ReplyDeleteNot that I disapprove of screwing Lib Dems by any means necessary - they are the past masters at dirty campaigning, so I say screw 'em - but no, I ain't buying it.
Troy,
ReplyDeleteAstroturf = fake grassroots
So this guy is head of e campaigning and doesn't know about very simple security matters? Doesn't that worry anyone at CCHQ?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, updated the PP post about all these defecations I mean defections:
http://www.pickledpolitics.com/archives/1239
"Iain, maybe it's time to put a glossary on the site... in spite of other comments here, I can't be the only ill-informed visitor to this blog when it comes to buzzwords. Even having read that original LibDem blog I don't know what "astroturfing" is supposed to signify. This would suggest it's not a very useful buzzword - the best ones tend to be self-evident."
ReplyDeleteJust stick the word in google. It's what I did, Grandad.
What is astroturfing? Here at the failing Labour Party HQ we don't know our arses from our elbows
ReplyDeleteBest thing Shapps could have done would have been to keep his mouth shut. Actually the Tories need to steady up a bit. Anyway, what's needed here is a bit of forensic.
ReplyDeleteSpin
ReplyDeleteThe Libdems are collapsing more and more each day falling to worse levels of rubbish and dirty tricks.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if they actually went and campaigned like they used to they might actually win something!
Ahahahahaha! As predicted:
ReplyDelete"What *will* Iain do? I’ve got odds on him providing ‘balance’ with an exclusive statement from Shapps."
Poor Mr Shapps. A liar pretending to be even more of an idiot than he actually is. Such a pity.
ReplyDeletePlausible deniability? I don't think so. What a fibber!
ReplyDeleteI am not going to call Grant a liar, but the explanation is a pretty weak one.
ReplyDeleteWhether he is responsible for it or not I cannot help thinking the commentary from Tim Ireland is so over the top it may as well be in orbit around Saturn.
Reading Ireland's analysis of the matter I think it is fair to say that never in the annals of human history has one bore said so much about so little to so few.
It really must be a slow week for him if this is all he has time to devote his energies to. He must have completed that project that some of his readers stumped up money to finance... you know the one that was delayed because he was so busy.
VERY GOOD point Unity.
ReplyDelete|N|B|W|
PS. Why can't we have some Sedgefield dirt (seen the Labour hijacking vids - Twats LOL)
If you were clever, but shameless and had the ability to post stuff in the name of a political opponent, would you (a) post outrageously offensive material or (b) milder stuff that looked as if it could have come from your opponent -- and would be all the more damaging for its plausibility?
ReplyDeletewhat a liar.
ReplyDeleteFling your mud elsewhere, Cllr. Tony Sharp.
ReplyDeleteEnergy was devoted to this because I have no love for losers who use sock-puppets to dupe the electorate. (Strange... I thought this would be the kind of thing that Iain would get outraged about... or at least a little curious.)
I have nothing against "psyops" - let's face it NuLab have been doing it for years but whether or not you believe Grant Shap's denial the fact remains that if his account was hacked then he has only himself to blame by using such a simple password. A 6 year old could "break that" in approximately 30 seconds. A complete amateur !!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletePersonally on this I don't know what to believe. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest that someone had a stupid password. In fact I bet half the people who slate someone for having a dumb passwords have dumb passwords too. Personally speaking it sounds like a cock-up with the wrong browser.
ReplyDeleteHowever Unity's comment is pretty weird on this. Figuring out someone's email address... hmmmm.... difficult. Guessing a password... hmmm dictionary attack. Plus children's name, wife's name, mixed with date of birth, possible a house number, maybe even the car reg. Throw in a few 3's for e's and your laughing.
Basically, whether Grant Shapps is telling the truth or not, the idea that it is somehow difficult to figure out the username and password of someone is, well... bollocks. Human beings are stupid and wholly predictable after all esepcially when it comes to computers.
troymolloy 4.31 PM said...
ReplyDeleteIain, maybe it's time to put a glossary on the site... in spite of other comments here, I can't be the only ill-informed visitor to this blog when it comes to buzzwords. Even having read that original LibDem blog I don't know what "astroturfing" is supposed to signify....
A good source of enlightenment for buzzwords is:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/
In American politics and advertising, the term astroturfing pejoratively describes formal public relations projects which deliberately seek to engineer the impression of spontaneous public reactions to a politician or political grouping, product, service, event, etc. by many diverse and distributed individuals acting of their own volition, when in fact the efforts are centrally coordinated.
ReplyDeleteen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing
So now we all know!
Grant's alibi is either the weakest excuse since "Please sir ! The dog ate my homework "
ReplyDeleteor he genuinely shouldn't be let anywhere near a computer keyboard until he's attended a PC Security course. Unless of course it was a "cunning plan" to confuse the hackers as nobody would be so stupid as to use 1234 as their password . Would they ?
Steve_Roberts said...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the enlightenment Steve; quite clever that one.
And to the humorous yet anonymous wassock calling me a Grandad (sic) - in fact I'm a web pro in my mid-20s ; spend half my life on the search engines, and know enough about Wikipedia to realise it makes sense to find things out from the horse's mouth. Still, thanks for your generous help.
Yes, if I wanted to crack open anyone's account I'd always try password 1234 first - I don't think. Pull the other one.
ReplyDeleteThanks to aardvark too - will remember that link.
ReplyDeleteIf you believe that, you will believe anything.
ReplyDeleteUnity is wrong - you can log in to YouTube with a username, you don't need an email. despite which, I still don't buy Grants weasally excuse for a second.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving that Dale is the only known netizen who's buying this denial (or claiming to).
ReplyDeleteOn the passwords thing... Google appears to be pressing users over to Google accounts in place of their old YT accounts, thus the confusion.
ReplyDeleteIt also need to be noted that Google and the Tory party get on very well indeed, so it should be a simple matter from Mr Shapps to have YT provide what information they can about the alleged miscreant.
Who cares whether he did or not? Everyone's at it, especially NuLab trolls.
ReplyDeleteChris Paul may or not be interested to know that I'm responsible for half his appearances. And you won't be surprised that I'm not Freddie Freeloader either.
My real name is..BANG! Arrghhh!
Amusing to compare the ponderous Wikipedia definition of ASTROTURFING highlighted by Anon 5.36 PM
ReplyDeleteIn American politics and advertising, the term astroturfing pejoratively describes formal public relations projects which deliberately seek to engineer the impression of spontaneous public reactions to a politician or political grouping, product, service, event, etc. by many diverse and distributed individuals acting of their own volition, when in fact the efforts are centrally coordinated.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing
So now we all know!
with the beautifully succint definition offered by Steve_Roberts:
Astroturf = fake grassroots
I love the fact some Tories are so dozy they actually seem to believe Grant, that his pitifully protected account was hacked and a lib dem posted that comment. Er, sounds plausible.
ReplyDeleteJust imagine the scene, Mark Pack et al, sat in the Lib Dem HQ . . . Shifty Mark suddenly has a bright idea. "Wait a minute, what if I try to log on to Grant Shapp's Youtube account . . . just input his email. Now, what could his password be. How about "1234". Oh my God, it works!"
Accept that Grant has been caught out. His excuse is so weak. And accept, if you can without having heart attacks, that when it comes to dirty campaigning, you guys are more than happy to do it.
I believe the story - absolutely 100%.
ReplyDeleteI also believe in nursery rhymes and the tooth fairy.
Really, please do not insult our intelligence or are Conservative MPs that dumb?
So you actually believe that load of Tory Tosh? Why wasn't it invented immediately?
ReplyDelete" pretty minor offence compared to illegally raising 14m ponds"
ReplyDeletewas this posted by a Tory Toad in a hole?
I can't believe you just posted that. Oh well, it's your blog...
ReplyDeleteChris Paul- leave the alliteration alone (ha!)- you're shit at it.
Oh my gawd Iain , did you or Grant expect anyone to believe that load of rubbish . When in a hole stop digging .
ReplyDeleteA marvellous effort at sabotaging your own credibility, Iain. What on Earth were you thinking of when you wrote this?
ReplyDeleteGrant must have made you a damned good offer to persuade you to do it. A seat in the European Parliament perhaps, or a seat in the Lords (Baron Dale of Southall, anyone?)...
Of course, it could be worse, in that you might actually believe him. No, that's far too absurd...
Dale, you're making yourself look an idiot parroting this denial.
ReplyDeleteWho has 1234 as their password?
I don't believe you believe it either ? Who would.
Shapps would have been better advised to keep quiet. As it was he looked a bit silly. But his excuse is so lacking in credibility that he now looks far worse.
ReplyDeleteIain, shame on you!
ReplyDeleteRule No.1 When in a hole stop digging
Whilst accepting the cock-up as the most likely explanation, the other scenario is a long way from impossible, or even improbable.
ReplyDeleteAs has been said, it doesn't take much guessing to get most people's passwords. They don't bother with changing them, making them secure in the first instance, not re-using them all over the place, not leaving them on post-its by the PC. I could go on.
DLTUSR(*ALL)
Still hard to believe that ANYONE believes this cock and bull story from Schweppes.
ReplyDeleteGrant 1234 Shapps is a Director of How To Corp Ltd which markets online tools. Currently, it is promoting iDovos, an identity protection service.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like he could use the service himself.
MU: What's illiteration?
ReplyDeleteDizzy: Natch, someone might have a very weak password. But then again if they're an e-campaigner that's a stretch. And if they've been getting impersonated for 48 hours and they don't change it that is waaaaay to much to stomach.
Iain,
ReplyDeleteLove(d) your blog.
The line you're running with is completely ridiculous.
Don't patronise us, you're a blogger. Don't be spun!!!!! or you'll lose your readers big time.
Grant's a good guy, he cocked up, live with it.
Fizzy information fro Sh. . . you know who!
ReplyDeleteIain. People would respect you more as a political commentator if you had the balls to concede that Shapps did this himself and was caught out big time. I'm a Conservative and am no fool. You?
ReplyDeleteIain said: "Sometimes the story is not quite as good as one first thinks."
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me... http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2007/06/exclusive-how-spinning-gordon-played.html
Like when four journalists all bother to contact you, deny what you claim and still you say they're lying?
I don't know whether that's a case of having ones cake and eating it or whether it's a case of a person in a glass house throwing stones. Do tell.