A MAN has been indicted for hacking into Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account, according to the US justice department.

David Kernell (20), of Knoxville, Tennessee, turned himself in and appeared before a US judge on Wednesday, the justice department said. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

According to the indictment, Mr Kernell accessed Ms Palin's account, gov.palin@yahoo.com, on September 16th after correctly answering a series of personal questions.

Yahoo allows users to change their passwords if they confirm personal information such as their birth date and zip code and correctly answer a personal question, such as the name of their first pet.

Mr Kernell, known online as "rubico", then posted some of the account's contents, along with the password, to the online message board 4chan.org, the indictment notes.

He also posted family members' cellphone numbers and e-mail addresses online, the indictment adds.

Mr Kernell is the son of Democratic state legislator Mike Kernell, according to local media reports.

Ms Palin occasionally used the account to conduct state business, according to media reports. Critics have charged that she uses the account to get around public records laws.

Ms Palin's spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt called the hacking incident "deeply troubling".