This Gmail hacking scandal is continuing to blow up. China has not only refuted claims that it was responsible for the incident but now accuses the United States of starting a global “Internet war.”
On Wednesday, Google announced on its blog that hundreds of Gmail accounts, including those belonging to government officials in the U.S., South Korea and elsewhere, were hacked by an assault stemming from Jinan, China. However, no official government emails were compromised, and everyone affected by the attack has already been notified.
Neither Google nor the United States have accused the Chinese government of involvement, but both the White House and the Pentagon have investigated the matter. Additionally, the U.S. has asked China to help investigate the attack as well.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there is going to be any teamwork on this issue. Yesterday, Chinese officials denounced swirling rumors that the Chinese government was associated in any way with the hacking, and now they’re going a step further.
According to the Associated Press:
Writing in the Communist Party-controlled China Youth Daily newspaper, the scholars did not mention Google’s claims, but said recent computer attacks and incidents employing the Internet to promote regime change in Arab nations appeared to have originated with the U.S. government.
“Of late, an Internet tornado has swept across the world … massively impacting and shocking the globe. Behind all this lies the shadow of America,” said the article, signed by Ye Zheng and Zhao Baoxian, identified as scholars with the Academy of Military Sciences.
“Faced with this warmup for an Internet war, every nation and military can’t be passive but is making preparations to fight the Internet war,” it said.
That will certainly bring a new meaning to the phrase, “The Great Firewall of China.”
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