Gmail hit by Chinese hackers who got into user's accounts -- June 1, 2011

[Mr. QuestionMan]

UPDATED ON JUNE 1, 2011

Computer hackers in China broke into the Gmail accounts of several hundred people, including senior U.S. government officials, military personnel and political activists, Google Inc. said Wednesday. Google also said that certain users of Gmail, its e-mail service, had been the targets of a clandestine campaign originating in China that was aimed at stealing passwords and monitoring e-mail accounts.

In a blog post, the company said that the campaign appeared to originate from the city of Jinan, China, and that it had affected the personal Gmail accounts of users including senior government officials in the United States, Chinese political activists, officials in several Asian countries, military personnel and journalists.

The attacks aren't believed to be tied to a more sophisticated assault originating from China in late 2009 and early last year. That intrusion targeted the Google's own security systems and triggered a high-profile battle with China's Communist government over online censorship, which has made it more difficult for the company to do business in the world's most populous country.

The latest duplicity appeared to rely on so-called "phishing" scams and other underhanded behavior that hackers frequently use to obtain passwords from people and websites that aren't vigilant about protecting the information.

Source: AP