Google Warning Gmail Users On Spying From China 215
Trailrunner7 writes "Google is using automated warnings to alert users of its Gmail messaging service about widespread attempts to access personal mail accounts from Internet addresses in China. The warnings may indicate wholesale spying by the Chinese government a year after the Google Aurora attacks, or simply random attacks. Victims include one leading privacy activist. Warnings appeared when users logged onto Gmail, encountering a red banner reading, 'Your account was recently accessed from China,' and providing a list of IP addresses used to access the account. Users were then encouraged to change their password immediately. Based on Twitter posts, there doesn't seem to be any pattern to the accounts that were accessed, though one target is a prominent privacy rights activist in the UK who has spoken out against the Chinese government's censorship of its citizens. A Google spokesman declined to comment on the latest warnings specifically. The company has been issuing similar warnings since March, when it introduced features to identify suspicious account activity."
Re:China shouldn't have been allowed to join the W (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm not American or even European btw.
Given the recent situation with Japan, I don't know how else to see China.
Vietnam have been complaining about China's bully tactics for a while now, it's just that no one paid attention.
China has been gaining a lot of power, the US might not even be able to restraint them any more.
Frankly it scares me.
I hate to say this but the moron Bush might actually be right, China has to be contained.
If I could turn back time and somehow stop China from joining the WTO I would.
As for the US, the things you guys do in the middle east is one hell of a clusterfuck.
But I don't know.
I think would rather live under the thumb of the US government than the PRC.
From my point of view, maybe it's because I'm from a country friendly towards the US, US in general have been relatively benevolent "rulers" in comparison to what China could be capable of.
Re:What reality do you live in? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:What reality do you live in? (Score:4, Interesting)
China does atrocities from within their borders and doesn't maintain an illusion of freedom.
It depends on what kind of atrocities and freedom. If you are talking about violent crimes, living in China is generally much safer than in US. And Chinese law is sometimes intentionally ambiguous and if you are clever enough you'll have more freedom than you want.
The actual significant difference between China and the US, is Chinese officials are not elected. So the whole political games change.
Re:Well-known privacy activist (Score:1, Interesting)
I am the person in question.
The matter came up casually after I had given the journalist an interview with regards to EverCookie - an issue I am currently dealing with in my work having involved a US Lawyer and filed an Open Letter with the European Commission in relation to how this particular API counters claims in Recital 66 of the Telecoms Reform Package that browsers should be seen as an acceptable form of control and consent with regards to the use of Internet tracking technologies. I work very hard, 16-20 hours a day, fighting on many fronts to protect fundamental liberties such as privacy and human rights. I do this because I believe it is important work, I don't get paid for it; so I find your comment particularly offensive and the response below from Rogerborg.
After I gave the interview the journalist asked my opinion on why Google had redacted details about China in their recently launched Transparency resource. Having followed the situation between Google and China (as part of my job) I offered the suggestion that even though Google's excuse that China requested the data be excluded on the grounds of national security made no sense it could just be a case that the relationship between Google and China is currently under stress given the allegations by Google earlier this year that China had hacked their core systems. As often happens when one is engaging freely with others I went on to mention that Google had recently started notifying users that their GMail account had been accessed from a Chinese IP when asked how I knew about that I explained I had received such notification earlier that day.
The point of the article which was then published was to raise awareness of these issues as I am sure anyone will agree that to compromise private communications is a serious issue. In my case the email address was very old (over 5 years old) and was setup specifically to deal with enquiries relating to an MPAA case against me. It is accessed infrequently purely to check if anyone is trying to contact me. I do a great deal of work with the press/media as well and receiving complaints from the public about privacy issues and as that email account is associated with my real name online (from when it was initially setup) it is important I check it every now again. It is currently not used for any other purpose.
I get quite angry when I see people on forums or comment systems who criticise advocates they know nothing about nor their motives. We work very hard and many of us for free with no personal agenda or benefits - we give up our lives defending the liberties you rely on in yours. More often than not these same critics have never lifted a finger nor spent any of their time engaging in such work, so they are not really in a position to criticise those of us who do.
That is OK though, we don't do the work for thanks or compliments, we do it for the benefit of society and future generations - but it would be nice if critics would actually base their discourse on some evidentiary basis instead of just opening their mouths without considering how their words might impact those of us doing this important work. I am pretty sure if your Human Rights were compromised in a way which caused you significant distress or damage you would expect someone to fight your corner for you and provide you with resources and support to overcome the issue - perhaps you should consider this before being so quick to criticise in the future.
Re:Maybe some access controls would help (Score:4, Interesting)
Let's see - I have never been in China and don't plan to go in the near future - maybe if Google added a feature that allows me to CONTROL what countries I can access it from, it could alleviate a lot of this problem.
I'd rather have out-of-band notifications of access - kinda like the way some banks do for their credit card accounts.
For example - I'd like to get a text message everytime someone logs into my account and everytime some major change is made - like setting up an auto-forward or changing the password.
Re:How many non-CN gmail users ever use Gmail in C (Score:3, Interesting)
not only all countries but my own, I would like to be able to whitelist to
- my work IP
- my home internet provider
and that's it, if I travel I can always stop restrictions temporarily, but there should be no reason why any location but the two above should be able to access my email account on a regular basis.
If Google wanted to make things simpler for users, you could also have the option to restrict by geolocation, given how good it is nowadays it should be trivial to say 'allow connections only from this city'
Re:What reality do you live in? (Score:5, Interesting)
No, it's a stupid point. Nobody in America is going to be driving over college students with tanks. You're taking the extreme, anti-American position because you think it makes you more insightful and intellectual while ignoring the fact that your ability to even post criticism of your country in the first place is proof that America is completely different from China.
Because you claimed America is putting people into forced labor prisons and selling their organs, and you didn't cite a single example for any of your claims. You also completely gloss over the actions and motivations during the Cold War. It's just the same, generic anti-American drivel you can find on someone's LiveJournal above anarchist gifs and Hugo Chavez quotes.