Suspected Chinese spear-phishing attacks continue to hit Gmail users

13.08.2011
Months after Google said that Chinese hackers were targeting the Gmail accounts of senior U.S. government officials, attempts to hijack Gmail inboxes continue, a researcher said Thursday.

"Once compromises happen and are covered in the news, they do not disappear and attackers don't give up or stop. They continue their business as usual," said Mila Parkour, an independent security researcher based in Washington, D.C., on her website.

In early June, Google announced it had designed to compromise Gmail accounts belonging to senior U.S. and South Korean government officials, military personnel, Chinese activists and journalists. Google said it had traced the attacks to Jinan, China, a city in eastern China that has been linked to other hacking campaigns, including one in late 2009 against Google's own network.

Parkour had revealed details of the earlier phishing attacks months before Google's June announcement.

that its government played a role in the attacks that accessed hundreds of accounts.

And the attacks have not stopped.