Chinese hackers repeatedly penetratedThe New York Times' computer systems over the past four months, stealingreporters' passwords and hunting for files on an investigation into the wealthamassed by the family of a top Chinese leader, the newspaper reported.
Security experts hired to investigate and plugthe breach found that the attacks used tactics similar to ones used in previoushacking incidents traced to China, the report said. It said the hackers routedthe attacks through computers at U.S. universities, installed a strain ofmalicious software, or malware, associated with Chinese hackers and initiatedthe attacks from university computers previously used to attack U.S. militarycontractors.
The attacks, which began in mid-September,coincided with a Times investigation into how the relatives and family ofPremier Wen Jiabao built a fortune worth over $2 billion. The report, which wasposted online Oct. 25, embarrassed the Communist Party leadership, coming aheadof a fraught transition to new leaders and exposing deep-seated favoritism at atime when many Chinese are upset about a wealth gap.
Over the months of cyber-incursions, thehackers eventually lifted the computer passwords of all Times employees andused them to get into the personal computers of 53 employees.
The report said none of the Times' customer datawas compromised and that information about the investigation into the Wenfamily remained protected.
"Computer security experts found noevidence that sensitive e-mails or files from the reporting of our articlesabout the Wen family were accessed, downloaded or copied," the reportquoted executive editor Jill Abramson as saying.
The Chinese Defense Ministry asked forquestions to be submitted in writing but initially declined comment. The Times,in its report, quoted the Defense Ministry as saying that Chinese law prohibitshacking and other acts that damage Internet security and that accusing it of"cyber-attacks without solid proof is unprofessional and baseless."
China has been accused by the U.S., otherforeign governments and computer security experts of mounting a widespread,aggressive cyber-spying campaign for several years, trying to steal classifiedinformation and corporate secrets and to intimidate critics. Foreign reportersand news media, including The Associated Press, have been among the targets ofattacks intended to uncover the identities of sources and to stanch criticalreports about the Chinese government.
"Attacks on journalists based in Chinaare increasingly aggressive, disruptive and sophisticated," said GregWalton, a cyber-security researcher who has tracked Chinese hacking campaigns.China's cyber-spying efforts have excelled in part because of the government's"willingness to ignore international norms relating to civil society andmedia organizations," he said.
The Times reported that executives becameconcerned just before the publication of the Wen investigation after learningthat Chinese officials had warned of unspecified consequences. Soon after theOct. 25 publication, AT&T, which monitors the Times' computer networks, notifiedthe company about activity consistent with a hacking attack, the report said.
After months of investigation by the computersecurity firm Mandiant, experts are still unsure how the hackers initiallyinfiltrated the Times' computer systems.