Google Inc. said Chinese hackers targeted the email accounts of senior U.S. officials and hundreds of other prominent people in a fresh computer attack certain to intensify growing concern about the security of the Internet.More at the link.
The victims, including government and military personnel, Asian officials, Chinese activists and journalists, were tricked into sharing their Gmail passwords with "bad actors" based in China, Google said in an unusual blog post. The attack's goal was to read and forward the victims' email.
The company, which in 2010 blamed China for an attack on its computer networks, said it recently discovered the Gmail campaign, which "appears to originate from Jinan, China," and targeted specific individuals.
In Washington, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security said they were working with Google to investigate the attacks. "We have no reason to believe that any official U.S. government email accounts were accessed," said Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council.
Interesting how the FBI got involved. It's a hacking case, you know, like Representative Weiner's. A Member of Congress certainly merits concern, although we've heard so many lies and distortions by now I think the dude's safe.
Anyway, see the Google blog post, "Ensuring your information is safe online." (Via Memeorandum.)