Google investigates whether cyberattack was an inside job

Jake Widman
Wednesday, 20 January 2010 01:29

Your IT - Home IT

In the wake of last week's breakin to Google's network, the company is looking into whether some of its Chinese employees may have facilitated the attack. The company has also delayed the release of two new Android smartphones in China.

Both Reuters and the Wall Street Journal have reported that Google in investigating the role some of its Chinese employees may have played in last week's cyberattack, which originated in China.

One of the WSJ's sources said that checking out the employees was no more than a normal part of the investigation. Another source said that the company believes the attack would have succeeded regardless of Google's presence in China.

Google has already raised the possibility of closing down its Chinese operations and halting the censorship of search results demanded by the Chinese government.

Today, the company announced that it has also postponed the launch of two Android-based cell phones developed with Motorola and Samsung. China Unicom had intended to release the phones tomorrow.

China has continued to take a hard line in the back-and-forth with Google.

A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, Ma Zhaoxu, said that "foreign enterprises in China need to adhere to China’s laws and regulations, respect the interests of the general public and cultural traditions, and shoulder corresponding responsibilities. Google is no exception."

He also claimed that China is the biggest victim of hacker attacks in the world.