If you hack Google, Google will hack you back

This seems to be the message Google gave back to the Chinese hackers in the recent cyber attack. Recently when Google was attacked by a group of Chinese hackers it began a secret counteroffensive of breaking into the computers of the hackers and gathering evidence of the origin of these attacks and other relevant information.

Google's delta force found evidence that the hackers had attacked 33 other companies, like Adobe, Symantec., and that the onslaught actually came from Mainland China and not Taiwan. As per Google the evidence also suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, however the hackers were not successful.

The sophistication of the these attacks strongly suggests support from Chinese government agencies. With this incident Google announced that it will no longer censor search results on Google.cn and they will maintain this stance, even if it ends in shutting down Google.cn.

Source: Official Google Blog and NYT

China's attack on Google explained



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An inside on Chinese internet censorship

Recently Reporters Without Borders had put together a report on the Chinese government's massive censorship operation. The whole operation is very much up and active whose primary focus is on the censorship of internet. The report states that the Chinese government has instituted an elaborate system for Internet censorship that employs tens of thousands of censors and police responsible for maintaining control over the flow of information.

To control the information flow over such a vast network, three leading government agencies have evolved over the last several years: the Internet Propaganda Administrative Bureau, the Bureau of Information and Public Opinion, and the Internet Bureau, the report said. In Beijing, where most of China's leading commercial Web sites are based, a powerful local agency has been established called the Beijing Internet Information Administrative Bureau.

It also states that Chinese supervisory bodies often use instant messaging and text messages sent via mobile phones to communicate quickly with commercial websites. The purpose is to tell them which articles or comments are not to be published, and which events or issues are taboo.

"This system of censorship is unparalleled anywhere in the world and is an insult to the spirit of online freedom,” Reporters Without Borders and Chinese Human Rights Defenders said in a joint statement. “With less than a year to go before the Beijing Olympics, there is an urgent need for the government to stop blocking thousands of websites, censoring online news and imprisoning Internet activists.”