Google Reveals Cyber Attack by China
Google officially announced on January 12 that the company discovered a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” in mid December that initiated from China. The search engine giant revealed that the corporate infrastructure was the target and that intellectual property theft was the result. Initially appearing as a security issue, Google’s investigation the tip of the iceberg exposed the depth of the attack with a shot heard around the world.
The world’s most popular search engine disclosed that 20 other companies from an array of different businesses from finance to technology, Internet, chemical and media – all had been comparably targeted. The victims were notified as well as the U.S. authorities.
Google’s investigation exposed evidence suggesting that the principle goal of the assailants was to access Gmail accounts of human rights activists in China. The analysis revealed that it appears that two accounts were breached with minimal email account data captured and that email content was not garnered.
The press release alarmingly divulged that outside the Google attack, dozens of Gmail account users in Europe, China and the U.S. with owners advocating human rights in China were regularly being assessed by third parties. It appears that access to the Gmail accounts were not made through a Google security breach, but as the result of phishing scams or through malware downloaded to the victim’s machines.
The Mountain View, California, innovative search engine has taken the defense by enhancing security and to improve architectural and infrastructure improvements. For the individual user, Google advises:
- Be sure to use reputable anti-spyware and anti-virus programs
- Make certain operating system patches are installed
- Double check to be sure that the most recent browser version is on your computer
- Take caution when clicking on links in emails and instant messages
- Be vigilant about not sharing personal information such as passwords online.
For more on Google’s recommendations for Cyber Security, please see:
For the full Google announcement on the China cyber attack, see: