China Attacks on Google May Have Hit 100 Companies

Via Businessweek.com -

The Chinese cyber attacks that Google Inc. reported last month may have targeted more than 100 companies, a larger number than previously thought, according to security research firm ISEC Partners Inc.

ISEC said it discovered the additional targets while working with victims of the attack, which originated in China. Google initially alerted 30 companies to the problem, San Francisco-based ISEC said.

Google disclosed last month that it suffered “a highly sophisticated” cyber attack on its corporate infrastructure and threatened to withdraw from China. The Mountain View, California-based company said Gmail e-mail accounts of Chinese human-rights activists were targeted by the hackers.

Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said Jan. 21 that Google had begun talks with the Chinese government and would be “making some changes” to its operations in China. The company was still following Chinese laws and censoring its search results locally, he said.

“Although none of the attacks or technique used in this series of attacks are particularly novel, the skill set, patience and tenacity of the attackers is much greater than most enterprises are equipped to deal with,” ISEC said in its report.