200 lines
5.0 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
200 lines
5.0 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
technology
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google
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7610156
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-----
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# Google hackers were after password system
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## The search giant's withdrawal from China was prompted by an attack on the
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software that runs all its passwords
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![A man walks past the Google offices in China. Google has stopped censoring
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results through its Chinese search engine.][1]
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Google's relationship with China has been difficult since it announced its
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intention to pull out of the country in January Photo: REUTERS
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By Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor 11:03AM BST 20 Apr 2010
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[Comments][2]
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The attack on [Google][3] servers that provoked the company's withdrawal from
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China was a concerted attempt to hack into the system upon which Google bases
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all its passwords, [the New York Times has reported][4].
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The programme, called Gaia, was attacked in December, and controls the access
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for most of Google's web services, including email and Apps.
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A person familiar with the company's internal investigation told the New York
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Times that the breach was discovered quickly and no passwords themselves were
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taken. The risk, although very small, is that hackers worked quickly and
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discovered weaknesses of which Google was unaware and has not been able to
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patch. Analysts believe this to be very unlikely, however, and Google has
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since improved its security anyway. A more remote possibility is that the
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hackers used the opportunity to insert a new vulnerability into Google's
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systems that they could then access themselves at any time.
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The attack was started, it is thought, by a link sent through a Microsoft
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instant messaging service. The hackers clearly had precise knowledge of who
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they should target to access the Gaia system, which has only been spoken of in
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public very rarely.
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Google was, however, one of more than 20 companies involved in a spate of
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attacks; others, sources have suggested, were being routinely hacked over a
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long period of time, but have yet to speak publicly about it.
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[X][5] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][6]
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* Share: [Share][5] [ ][7] [ ][8]
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[Tweet][9]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/7610156/Google-hackers-were-
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after-password-system.html
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Telegraph
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## [Google][3]
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* ### [Technology »][10]
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* ### [Technology News »][11]
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In technology
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[![Watch Google's ad for the Chromebook, as the internet giants prepare to
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venture into the laptop market with the launch of their own operating system,
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Chrome OS.][12] ][13]
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### [Google introduces the Chromebook][13]
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[![Google Chrome OS][14] ][15]
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### [What is Google Chrome OS?][15]
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[![Centurions][16] ][17]
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### [Google launches Latin translation tool][17]
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[![Anwar Al-Awlaki America discusses the war on Yemen ][18] ][19]
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### [YouTube employing extra staff to tackle al-Qaeda hate videos][19]
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[![The Telegraph on Twitter][20]][21]
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### [Follow us on Twitter][21]
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[X][5] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][6]
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Share:
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* [ ][5]
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* [ ][7]
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* [ ][8]
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* [Tweet][9]
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* Advertisement
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![][22]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][23] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][24]
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[![Follow The Telegraph on social media][25]][26]
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Advertisement
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sponsored features
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Loading
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Technology Most Viewed
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* TODAY
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* PAST WEEK
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* PAST MONTH
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1. [Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, slaughters his own food][27]
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2. [Mark Zuckerberg: children should be allowed to use Facebook][28]
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3. [US develop software to analyse metaphors][29]
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4. [Stuxnet virus: US refuses to deny involvement][30]
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5. [Nook ereader impresses the US but might never come to Britain][31]
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1. [Reiss website crashes as shoppers rush to buy Kate's dress][32]
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2. [Newspaper publishes name of footballer with gagging order][33]
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3. [Tweets about super-injunction footballer spike after attempts to gag
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Twitter][34]
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4. [Max Clifford: Ryan Giggs 'affair' may never have come out without
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injunction][35]
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5. [Ryan Giggs unmasked as gagging order footballer][36]
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1. [Mr Men Google doodles celebrate 76th birthday of creator Roger
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Hargreaves][37]
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2. [Meet the woman allergic to electricity][38]
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3. [Jeremy Clarkson texts Jemima Khan over 'nightmare' super-injunction
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claims on Twitter][39]
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4. [Wikipedia users name celebrities with gagging orders][40]
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5. [Alarm over EU 'Great Firewall' proposal][41]
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[EDITOR'S CHOICE »][42]
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### [Gil Scott-Heron: 'A voice for Shakespeare'][43]
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[![Gil Scott-Heron][44]][43]
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Composer, musician, poet and author whose writing provided a vivid commentary
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on the black American experience.
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### [Beekeeping diary: the new colonies arrive][45]
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### [Spectacular light show dazzles Sydney][46]
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### [WS Gilbert: a knight for our times][47]
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### [The Telegraph's Matt is Hay Festival star][48]
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Advertisement
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Classified Advertising
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* [Cars][49]
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* [IT Jobs][50]
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* [Events][51]
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var puffs_8254837 = new Array();
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