Hackers from China have infiltrated the computer systems of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) who has become the latest website to be attacked.
Beijing has been accused by several governments and companies of carrying out cyber espionage for many years.
Before Christmas the Financial Times related a quote from an FBI cyber expert who said “There are two types of websites- those who have been hacked and those who don’t know that they have been hacked”.
The Journal’s publisher, Dow Jones & Co, released a statement saying hacking attacks related to its China coverage were “an ongoing issue”.
“Evidence shows that infiltration efforts target the monitoring of the Journal’s coverage of China, and are not an attempt to gain commercial advantage or to misappropriate customer information,” a spokeswoman for the newspaper said.
“We continue to work closely with the authorities and outside security specialists, taking extensive measures to protect our customers, employees, journalists and sources.
Other alleged China-based hacks:
- China was widely believed to be the source of major cyber attacks between 2006 and 2011 targeting 72 organisations including the International Olympic Committee, the UN and security firms
- In 2011, Google said hackers based in Jinan province had compromised personal email accounts of hundreds of top US officials, military personnel and journalists
- South Korea blamed Chinese hackers for stealing data from 35 million accounts on a popular social network in July last year
- Chinese-based computers seized “full functional control” of computers at Nasa in 2011, the US body said
- In 2011 US media reported that Chinese-based hackers were suspected of a “significant” cyber attack on defence firm Lockheed Martin.
- Coca-cola says its systems were breached in 2009 by Beijing-backed hackers, while it was trying to buy China’s Huiyuan Juice Group
- The US Pentagon said it was hacked by the Chinese military in 2007
- China says hacking is illegal under its laws and that it is a victim of such attacks itself
In a perverse sort of way- if your website hasn’t been hacked- then the hackers consider that your online effort isn’t worth bothering with.
The moral of the story is ALWAYS be vigilant and don’t be stupid with your passwords and online activities. For the former, please read our post: Internet account passwords in December.