Search engine Yahoo was also targeted by a Chinese attack similar to the one which affected Google, according to an insider. This comes after Google was targeted among 20 other companies, in a series of highly sophisticated attacks in December.
The other companies ranged across various industries such as finance, technology, chemicals and media, all of which are being notified by Google at present. The attacks from China also included hackers affecting human rights activists through their Gmail email accounts provided by Google.
Editor of Search Engine Land, Danny Sullivan suggested that Yahoo was targeted because of how popular its email service is, he said: “People are looking for places to communicate, and communicate without the Chinese authorities restricting them.”
Yahoo commented in a statement: “Yahoo does not generally disclose that type of information, but we take security very seriously and we take appropriate action in the event of any kind of breach.” It also said they stand aligned with Google in condemning the attacks and won’t disclose attacks on its computer systems.
Yahoo and Google were both criticised by American law makers in 2006 for complying with the Chinese government’s restrictions on the Internet. In 2005, co-founder of Yahoo Jerry Yang said that a court order let the California based company to hand over user records, which resulted in a conviction of a Chinese journalist.
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