New day, different newsworthy hack. This time Google’s Gmail service was hacked by a Chinese hacker. The hacker used a phishing campaign to steal the user names and passwords of hundreds of accounts including government officials from the United Sates and South Korea. Also hit were were members of the Associated Press and Chinese activists as well as many more Gmail users. Google stresses this was not a security breach, it was a clear cut act of phishing.

Kudos to Google for catching this intrusion before it spread to the whole system. The fine folks at Google listed some helpful reminders to keep your accounts safe and secure over on the Google Blog. You owe it to yourself to refresh your memory and procedures with them. Some of the tips are no-brainers such as using a strong password that you use nowhere else, watching for irregular activity and never giving out out user name/password. They also point out to check your forwarding emails for unauthorized addresses.

These hackers need to stop this crap. They accomplish nothing for the greater good, in fact their efforts will hamper the common person’s ability to access and use the internet. This isn’t 1995, you aren’t Angelina Jolie and you’re not taking down an evil thief trying to frame you. Leave my ‘tubes alone and go spray paint a water tower.

Source: Boy Genius Report

Related articles

• Google admits sensitive email accounts have been hacked, some users knew months ago (engadget.com)
• Chinese Hacker Cracks Hundreds of Gmail Accounts, Including Those of U.S. Officials [Gmail] (gizmodo.com)