The Wall Street Journal said Thursday its computer systems had
been infiltrated by Chinese hackers for the apparent purpose of
monitoring the newspaper's China coverage.
The infiltration at the Journal, along with reports of computer
network breaches at the New York Times and other outlets, indicate
that Chinese spying on U.S. media has become a widespread
phenomenon.
Chinese hackers have for years targeted major U.S. media
companies with persistent hacking, repeatedly penetrating deep
inside some news-gathering systems, according to several people
familiar with the response to the cyber attacks.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been probing these media
incidents for more than a year, and considers the hacking a
national security case against U.S. interests, according to people
familiar with the matter.
Paula Keve, chief spokeswoman for the Journal's parent company
Dow Jones & Co., said in a written statement: "Evidence shows
that infiltration efforts target the monitoring of the Journal's
coverage of China, and are not an attempt to gain commercial
advantage or to misappropriate customer information." Dow Jones,
which also publishes this newswire, is a unit of News Corp.
(NWS).
Ms. Keve called the infiltration of networks related to coverage
of China an "ongoing issue," adding, "we continue to work closely
with the authorities and outside security specialists, taking
extensive measures to protect our customers, employees, journalists
and sources."
The statement said the Journal had on Thursday completed a
network overhaul to bolster security.
"We fully intend to continue the aggressive and independent
journalism for which we are known," she said.
According to people familiar with the Wall Street Journal
incident, one of the ways the hackers penetrated the paper's
computer system was through its Beijing bureau. The statement
didn't address how the hacking occurred. The paper has faced
hacking threats from China on and off during the past few
years.
Google Inc. (GOOG) and computer-security firm RSA, among others,
have previously acknowledged their systems have been infiltrated.
People familiar with those breaches say they were connected to the
Chinese government.
On Thursday, the New York Times published an extensive report
detailing how hackers had infiltrated its systems and gained access
to passwords belonging to reporters, among other employees. The
paper said it believed it had expelled the hackers from its
system.
Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the New York Times, a unit of
the New York Times Co. (NYT), said, "We stand behind our story and
explain why we believe [the hacking] came from China."
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