Google Discloses China-Based 'Hijacking' of Gmail Accounts

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Source: wsj

Google Inc. said it uncovered a computer attack from China targeting prominent users of its Gmail service, potentially further complicating relations between the Internet giant and the country with the highest number of Internet users.

Google said hundreds of Gmail users, including U.S. government officials, Chinese activists and journalists, were tricked into sharing their passwords with "bad actors" based in China. The attackers were able to read and forward the victims' email.

The Web search company, which has blamed China for a previous attack on the company's computer networks, said its security and abuse detection systems recently discovered that users of its popular Gmail service had fallen for what are called "phishing scams." Such exploits trick users into sharing their passwords. The campaign "appears to originate from Jinan, China" and targeted specific individuals, the company said.

The company declined to comment on the identities of the affected individuals, how it traced the attacks to Jinan or who may be behind the incident.




Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576359770243517568.html?mod=e2tw

[silverweb]

1. ...

"Google said hundreds of Gmail users, including U.S. government officials, Chinese activists and journalists, were tricked into sharing their passwords with "bad actors" based in China."

:banghead:

When will people learn????

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. Google reply - 'Ensuring your information is safe online'...

The Internet has been an amazing force for good in the world—opening up communications, boosting economic growth and promoting free expression. But like all technologies, it can also be used for bad things. Today, despite the efforts of Internet companies and the security community, identity theft, fraud and the hijacking of people’s email accounts are common problems online.

Bad actors take advantage of the fact that most people aren’t that tech savvy—hijacking accounts by using malware and phishing scams that trick users into sharing their passwords, or by using passwords obtained by hacking other websites. Most account hijackings are not very targeted; they are designed to steal identities, acquire financial data or send spam. But some attacks are targeted at specific individuals.

Through the strength of our cloud-based security and abuse detection systems*, we recently uncovered a campaign to collect user passwords, likely through phishing. This campaign, which appears to originate from Jinan, China, affected what seem to be the personal Gmail accounts of hundreds of users including, among others, senior U.S. government officials, Chinese political activists, officials in several Asian countries (predominantly South Korea), military personnel and journalists.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/ensuring-your-information-is-safe.html

[silverweb]

3. Excellent information.

Thanks!

I keep getting the messages to try Chrome and would like to, but my work requires IE7. The article and video are very helpful, though.

[Javaman]

4. So does this mean we start bombing them now? nt