New York Times Victim of Four-Month Long Chinese Hack
Shelly Palmer
The New York Times reported that its reporters and editors have been the target of a semi-successful, four-month-long cyber attack and the paper suspects Chinese hackers are to blame. In a report published Wednesday, the news outlet said hackers managed to steal passwords and gain access to the personal computers of 53 employees, including those belonging to its Shanghai bureau chief, before a private cyber security firm helped oust the infiltrators. The Times said the hacking campaign coincided with the paper’s investigation into the relatives of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, who have accumulated multi-billion-dollar fortunes through business deals. However, Jill Abramson, executive editor of the Times, said that no sensitive emails or documents related to that reporting effort “were accessed, downloaded or copied.”
