22 February 2010 | Author: D. Warburton Search Copywriter

Investigations reveal sources of Google cyber attacks

Two separate investigations claim to have identified both the physical source of the China cyber attacks that targeted Google and other companies at the end of last year, as well as the author of the sophisticated computer code that exploited a previously unknown security hole in the Internet Explorer web browser.

The Telegraph reports that the programmer is an unnamed security consultant in his 30s, whose work is made available to the Chinese government. Although the author of the code was not personally responsible for the attacks, the Financial Times reports that he had posted his work on a known hackers forum.

The US analyst said: "If he wants to do the research he's good at, he has to toe the line now and again.

"He would rather not have uniformed guys looking over his shoulder, but there is no way anyone of his skill level can get away from that kind of thing. The state has privileged access to these researchers' work."

The computers from which the attacks are alleged to have originated are contained within the Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School in eastern Shandong province. However, both institutions issued fierce denials over the weekend through Xinhua, China's state-run news agency.

"We were shocked and indignant to hear these baseless allegations which may harm the university's reputation," a Jiaotong University spokesperson reportedly stated.

"The report of the New York Times was based simply on an IP address. Given the highly developed network technology today, such a report is neither objective nor balanced."

Similarly, Lanxiang Vocational School denied involvement, with the school's party chief Li Zixiang saying that an "investigation in the staff found no trace the attacks originated from our school."

Although the Chinese government denied involvement in the attacks, which targeted the Gmail accounts of human rights activists, Google took the unusual stance of demanding "an explanation" from Beijing, viewed by some as exacerbating the vulnerability of US-China relations at a pivotal time, when disputes over trade, climate change and human rights have come to the fore.

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