Google Hit By Chinese Hackers

Reuters reports:

(Reuters) - Hackers likely based in China tried to break into hundreds of Google mail accounts, including those of senior U.S. government officials, Chinese activists and journalists, the Internet company said on Wednesday.

The unknown perpetrators, who appeared to originate from Jinan in Shandong province, recently tried to crack and monitor email accounts by stealing passwords, but Google detected and "disrupted" their campaign, the world's largest Web search company said on its official blog.

The revelation comes more than a year after Google disclosed a cyber attack on its systems that it said it traced to China, and could further strain an already tense relationship between the Web giant and Beijing.

That incident also triggered a highly charged debate over the country's censorship and rigid control of the Internet. Google eventually all but pulled out of the world's largest Internet market by users.