U.S. May Take Formal Measures Against China Over Google Hacking

U.S. May Take Formal Measures Against China Over Google Hacking

Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government may take formal measures against China over an alleged cyber-attack on Google Inc. and other companies, a State Department official said.

David Shear, the deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, met with the Chinese Embassy’s deputy chief of mission in Washington yesterday to express concern and ask questions. Shear didn’t receive answers to any of the questions during the meeting, the State Department official told reporters in Washington on condition of anonymity.

The allegations of breaches raise questions such as whether China will investigate the intrusions, the official said. If the attack represented part of a deliberate strategy on China’s part, that raises other concerns, the official said, without being specific.

Google said the attack, which occurred last month, included theft of its intellectual property and hacking into the e-mail accounts of human rights activists, and that it targeted at least 20 other “large” companies in technology, finance and chemicals.

While the State Department called for the meeting with the Chinese envoy, it wasn’t a formal summons. That may yet occur, the official said.

Xi Yanchun, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Embassy, didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment after normal business hours.

Unrestricted Use

Alec Ross, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s senior adviser for innovation, said the Obama administration views the allegations of cyber attacks as more than a commercial dispute.

“I don’t think that we’re looking at these issues through the prism of American business interests,” Ross told reporters today during a videoconference call. “The United States has frequently made clear to the Chinese our views on the importance of unrestricted Internet use as well as cyber security, and we look to the Chinese government for an explanation.”

Lawrence Summers, President Barack Obama’s top economic adviser, said Google Inc.’s threat to shutter operations in China over censorship and hacking has a moral and economic impact.

“The principles that Google is trying to uphold are not just important in a moral or human rights framework but are also of very considerable economic importance,” Summers, director of Obama’s National Economic Council, told reporters at the White House yesterday.

July 2009 Attacks

The attacks on Google Inc. and the other companies were mounted by a group that tried to breach the computer networks of at least 25 companies in July 2009, said computer industry officials familiar with the breaches.

Both the July 2009 attacks and those launched last month originated from similar or identical Internet protocol addresses, said Eli Jellenc, head of international cyber-intelligence at Sterling, Virginia-based iDefense Labs, which provides reports on breaches.

High-technology and defense companies were targeted in both attacks, which involved e-mailed attachments with viruses, he said.

The recent attacks were more sophisticated and successful in targeting trade secrets and other proprietary information, he said.

The recent incidents show “a remarkable level of strategic coordination and planning, much greater than previous attacks,” said Jellenc, who added that there were at least 30 companies victimized.

Hackers in December took legitimate documents, infected them with viruses and then sent them to company employees in e- mails that appeared to be from trusted colleagues, said Christopher Day, chief security architect at Terremark Worldwide Inc.

The Miami-based computer network management firm has analyzed the viruses used in the attacks, he said. As many as 38 companies may have been targeted, said Day, citing industry officials familiar with the latest incursions.

Similar breaches in the past have occurred in waves, so it’s possible this attack isn’t over and that the latest victim “hasn’t been discovered” yet, Day said.

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