Application security

Internap denies direct involvement in Hillary Clinton email server fracas

Internet infrastructure provider Internap denied Wednesday that it is directly connected in any way regarding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email server, contradicting a story posted today by Breitbart.com.

The Breitbart article claimed that Clinton used Internap as the internet service provider for her private email account during her time as secretary of state. In addition, the story stated that during that period Internap was the victim of an advanced persistent threat (APT) attack, similar to one that struck RSA in 2011. The story linked to a list of companies that had also suffered APT attacks posted by KrebsonSecurity that included Internap.

Steve Orchard, Internap's senior vice president and general manager for data center and network services, told SCMagazine at no time did the company host Clinton's email service, have physical control over the email server nor was it attacked. Orchard described Internap's role as that of a middle man. A company spokesman added in an email to SCMagazine.com on Wednesday that while Internap does provide ISP services to data center-level customers, it does not provide email hosting services.

“We provide IPs and connections to hundredds if not thousands of clients,” Orchard said. “IP numbers get assigned to us, which are put into a pool. We then sub-allocate those numbers to other companies for their use. These companies then resell our IP numbers to others.”

Orchard said that while he does not know if any of these resellers have been impacted by an attack, the fact that they are using Internap-provided IP addresses means it could look like Internap was attacked, but that was not the case.

“We were very confused by the article. It was taking leaps in many ways,” Orchard said, adding the company will post a blog shortly to further clarify its side of the story.

Patrick Howley, the Breitbart reporter who wrote the article, told SCMagazine.com in an email Wednesday he stands by his assertions that Internap did host Clinton's private email account.

"Internap didn't reply to me even though I reached out to them with great effort. I stand by my story 100 percent," he wrote.

Orchard said the company had tried to respond to Howley, "but could not get through."

UPDATE: Orchard posted his blog on September 24. The no spin zone: Hillary Clinton's email servers and Internap


Get daily email updates

SC Media's daily must-read of the most current and pressing daily news

By clicking the Subscribe button below, you agree to SC Media Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.