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Wall Street Journal claims it too was breached by Chinese hackers

The Wall Street Journal is the latest US publication to come forth and claim that Chinese hackers have infiltrated its systems, searching for journalists' sources.
Written by AAP , Contributor and  Michael Lee, Contributor

After the New York Times (NYT) revealed it had been breached by hackers for over four months, the Wall Street Journal has stepped forward to state that it too has been breached in repeated attacks that have lasted "several years."

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the attackers originated from China and have the motive of monitoring its coverage of the Asian country.

The WSJ journalists reporting the hacking claim that "journal sources on occasion have become hard to reach after information identifying them was included in emails," and suggested that information gained by the attackers has worked its way to Chinese authorities, who then take action to silence whistleblowers.

A spokeswoman for Dow Jones & Co, the newspaper's publisher, said that the WSJ completed a network overhaul to bolster security on Thursday.

It did not reveal how the attackers gained access to its systems or what information they may have obtained, but said that the hacking was not an attempt to "gain commercial advantage or to misappropriate customer information."

The NYT and WSJ have not confirmed whether they were attacked by the same group, but NYT CIO Marc Fron has previously said that he believes its attackers were also looking for the names of sources.

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