New approach in China
Today, Google announced that it will no longer censor search results in Chinese Google.cn. In my opinion, this is a very important and bold decision that deserves broad public support. Such a decision seemed impossible yesterday, but Google proved that it is still true to the slogan “Don't be evil”. I could not go to sleep without transferring this post from the Google corporate blog:
Like many other well-known organizations, we are constantly confronted with cyber-attacks of a particular gravity. In mid-December, we were subjected to a sophisticated and targeted attack from China on our corporate infrastructure, which led to the theft of Google’s intellectual property. After some time, it became clear that the incident, which at first seemed to be only a security problem (although very seriously), was in fact something more.
First, the attack was carried out not only on Google. During the investigation, we found out that at least twenty more large companies from various fields of activity (including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemistry sectors) were also attacked. Now we are engaged in the notification of these companies, as well as working with representatives of US government agencies.
Secondly, we have reason to assume that the attackers' goal was to gain access to the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights defenders. Based on current data, we believe that the attacker failed to achieve his goal. They received limited access to only two Gmail accounts, and were able to find out only technical information (when these accounts were reconciled) and email headers, but they could not access the content of emails.
')
Thirdly, during the investigation, we found out that, regardless of the December attack, dozens of human rights defenders from the United States, China and Europe who are engaged in the protection of human rights in China, were regularly accessed by third parties. Outsiders did not access their accounts because of Google’s security breaches, but by using phishing and malware installed on users ’computers.
We have already used the information obtained during the investigation of the December attack, for the implementation of architectural improvements that will strengthen the protection of Google and its users. We recommend that our users install known antiviruses on their computers, update their operating systems and browsers. Always be vigilant when clicking on the links appearing in messengers and letters, and when you are offered to publish your personal information, such as passwords, on the Internet. You can read here about our recommendations. People who want to learn more about such attacks can read the US government report (PDF), the Nart Villeneuve blog or a presentation about the GhostNet incident.
We have taken extraordinary steps to publicize information about the December attacks to the public, not only because the information we’ve unearthed involves security and human rights, but also because this information is important in light of the global discussion on freedom of speech. Over the past two decades, the economic reforms of the Chinese government and the entrepreneurial ability of the citizens of this country have allowed hundreds of millions of Chinese to rise out of poverty. Moreover, this great nation is now the engine of economic development and progress of the whole world.
We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the hope that the benefits of expanding access to information for people in China and a more open Internet will outweigh our discomfort from the agreement to censor some of the results of the issue. At that time, we made a clear statement that “we will carefully monitor the situation in China, including new laws and prohibitions related to our service. If we decide that we can no longer achieve the stated goals, we will not hesitate to reconsider our actions in China. ”
These attacks and the information they revealed, in combination with further attempts to restrict freedom of speech on the Internet, which we observed last year, led us to a decision that we should question the possibility of our further activity in China. We decided that we no longer want to censor the issue on Google.cn, so over the next few weeks we will discuss with the Chinese government the conditions under which we can provide uncensored issue in accordance with Chinese law, if that is at all possible. We understand that this is very likely to mean the closure of Google.cn and our offices in China.
The decision to reconsider our working conditions in China was incredibly difficult for us and we understand that it can have very far-reaching consequences. We want to clarify that this step was made by our top management in the United States, our employees in China, who worked incredibly hard so that Google.cn would achieve today's great successes, would not be involved in making this decision and would not know anything about it. We are interested in responsible work to address the heavy issue raised.
PS Read a hundred comments. I am amazed at people who scold Google, say that this is all PR and the company will not go anywhere, will return to China later, etc. etc. You are here to try to make such a decision on a personal level: never again give bribes and pay all taxes (the analogy is straightforward - you make your life much harder and reduce your disposable income), then criticize. Ah, you are already a saint - then fine. When it comes to big money, often many, including the US government, forget about human rights problems in China. Google decided not to put up with it anymore - anyway, there will be those who spit in her face. I marvel at such people.
Update: I suggest that everyone who speaks English read Robert Scoble’s two posts about this step by Google, in which he explains why, in his opinion, the company acted boldly and has all the chances to really suffer from its decision: Why now Google? and The push and pull of China .
Like many other well-known organizations, we are constantly confronted with cyber-attacks of a particular gravity. In mid-December, we were subjected to a sophisticated and targeted attack from China on our corporate infrastructure, which led to the theft of Google’s intellectual property. After some time, it became clear that the incident, which at first seemed to be only a security problem (although very seriously), was in fact something more.
First, the attack was carried out not only on Google. During the investigation, we found out that at least twenty more large companies from various fields of activity (including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemistry sectors) were also attacked. Now we are engaged in the notification of these companies, as well as working with representatives of US government agencies.
Secondly, we have reason to assume that the attackers' goal was to gain access to the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights defenders. Based on current data, we believe that the attacker failed to achieve his goal. They received limited access to only two Gmail accounts, and were able to find out only technical information (when these accounts were reconciled) and email headers, but they could not access the content of emails.
')
Thirdly, during the investigation, we found out that, regardless of the December attack, dozens of human rights defenders from the United States, China and Europe who are engaged in the protection of human rights in China, were regularly accessed by third parties. Outsiders did not access their accounts because of Google’s security breaches, but by using phishing and malware installed on users ’computers.
We have already used the information obtained during the investigation of the December attack, for the implementation of architectural improvements that will strengthen the protection of Google and its users. We recommend that our users install known antiviruses on their computers, update their operating systems and browsers. Always be vigilant when clicking on the links appearing in messengers and letters, and when you are offered to publish your personal information, such as passwords, on the Internet. You can read here about our recommendations. People who want to learn more about such attacks can read the US government report (PDF), the Nart Villeneuve blog or a presentation about the GhostNet incident.
We have taken extraordinary steps to publicize information about the December attacks to the public, not only because the information we’ve unearthed involves security and human rights, but also because this information is important in light of the global discussion on freedom of speech. Over the past two decades, the economic reforms of the Chinese government and the entrepreneurial ability of the citizens of this country have allowed hundreds of millions of Chinese to rise out of poverty. Moreover, this great nation is now the engine of economic development and progress of the whole world.
We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the hope that the benefits of expanding access to information for people in China and a more open Internet will outweigh our discomfort from the agreement to censor some of the results of the issue. At that time, we made a clear statement that “we will carefully monitor the situation in China, including new laws and prohibitions related to our service. If we decide that we can no longer achieve the stated goals, we will not hesitate to reconsider our actions in China. ”
These attacks and the information they revealed, in combination with further attempts to restrict freedom of speech on the Internet, which we observed last year, led us to a decision that we should question the possibility of our further activity in China. We decided that we no longer want to censor the issue on Google.cn, so over the next few weeks we will discuss with the Chinese government the conditions under which we can provide uncensored issue in accordance with Chinese law, if that is at all possible. We understand that this is very likely to mean the closure of Google.cn and our offices in China.
The decision to reconsider our working conditions in China was incredibly difficult for us and we understand that it can have very far-reaching consequences. We want to clarify that this step was made by our top management in the United States, our employees in China, who worked incredibly hard so that Google.cn would achieve today's great successes, would not be involved in making this decision and would not know anything about it. We are interested in responsible work to address the heavy issue raised.
PS Read a hundred comments. I am amazed at people who scold Google, say that this is all PR and the company will not go anywhere, will return to China later, etc. etc. You are here to try to make such a decision on a personal level: never again give bribes and pay all taxes (the analogy is straightforward - you make your life much harder and reduce your disposable income), then criticize. Ah, you are already a saint - then fine. When it comes to big money, often many, including the US government, forget about human rights problems in China. Google decided not to put up with it anymore - anyway, there will be those who spit in her face. I marvel at such people.
Update: I suggest that everyone who speaks English read Robert Scoble’s two posts about this step by Google, in which he explains why, in his opinion, the company acted boldly and has all the chances to really suffer from its decision: Why now Google? and The push and pull of China .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/80625/
All Articles