Wall Street Journal also bemoans Chinese hacker attacks

The Chinese hackers apparently wanted to monitor the newspaper's reporting on China, the business daily wrote on Thursday. Publishing spokeswoman Paula Keve explained that the intrusion into the newspaper's computer systems was an "existing problem". The publisher is working with the authorities and external security companies to protect readers, employees and sources. The computer network has been upgraded in terms of security.

According to initial findings, the intruders were not after customer data, said Keve. The newspaper, which belongs to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., sees the attacks from China as a widespread phenomenon. In addition to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times (Werbewoche.ch reported), other US media are also affected. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been investigating the matter for more than a year, according to people familiar with the matter. The FBI is even considering classifying the case as a threat to national security.

Critical reports

According to the New York Times, the passwords of all employees were stolen. The attackers then gained access to the computers of 53 Times employees. At the time of the attack in the fall, the renowned newspaper was working on a report about the assets of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's family. The attackers were apparently only interested in information in this context, the paper wrote. Customer data had not been stolen. The computer network is now secure again.

The financial news agency Bloomberg also reported a hacker attack from China last year - while working on a report on the assets of the family of current party leader Xi Jinping. According to Bloomberg, however, they were unable to get into the computer system. Google and other US companies have also repeatedly complained of being attacked from China via the internet. Official bodies in China have always vehemently denied the allegations. (SDA)