Google-China war: Who is vulnerable?
Posted in Computers on January 25th, 2010 by ComputersIn mid-December, Google has detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure, which was originated from China and resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. Besides Google, the attacks were also directed at some 34 companies around the world.
After that incident, the search giant has indicated that it will stop cooperating with Chinese Internet censorship and also planning to shut down its operations in the country altogether. The news has created much hype all over the world and the US accused China for thinning ‘internet freedom’ and asked the government to remove internet censorship. China reverted on the statement and said such statements could hurt relations between the world’s biggest and third biggest economies.
Cyber attacks
Google said that the primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. It is reported that only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed. Further, the company added that the Gmail accounts of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based people who advocates Chinese human rights development is appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties.
Google holds release of Android phones in China
To add oil in the fire, Google has indefinitely postponed two Android based phones via China Unicom. The smartphones were manufactured by Motorola and Samsung. Market analysts suggest that the development could create a big headache for its cellphone partners, especially Motorola Inc, which is betting on Google’s mobile software and China for better revenues. Motorola is selling about 10 percent of its phones in China. In contrast, Motorola launched its app store, SHOP4APPS, in China related to Android OS based apps.
Microsoft’s role in Google hack
After the Google hacking, a security software maker claimed that the Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser may be the pathway for the attacks. The security firm added that these attacks have been directed via trusted source leading the target to fall for the trap and clicking a link or file.
Microsoft accepted the vulnerability in its IE6 and announced an out-of-cycle security update to fix a critical flaw in the browser.
China’s response
Chinese government officials said that all the companies working in the country had to abide the local laws. China counters Google’s threat by saying if it wants to operate in the country, it will require filtering its search results. Despite Google’s position, Microsoft and Yahoo said that they will continue operations in China.
Google had started the Chinese version of its search engine at the Google.com domain back in September, 2000. The search giant had also accepted the censorship of China in 2006 and launched Google.cn, a specialized version of its search site that filters out various results.
Discussion
Google knows that to leave market like China has been incredibly hard and will have potentially far-reaching consequences. In a response, Google has updated its Gmail to a more secure protocol. Earlier, it had offered HTTPS access to Gmail as an option, but now the feature has become the default. Also, it has been reported that the search giant will not leave China, but said that it would negotiate with the Chinese government over the next few weeks about the security concerns and other matters.