China cyber attack targets journalists

Beijing-based press agency says eight journalists' email accounts have been hacked

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) today claimed that a number of its members have had their Yahoo email accounts hacked and tampered with.

The Beijing-based press association said eight journalists have had their email accounts hacked, including one that had a forwarding address added to his account settings.

We approached Yahoo in the UK for a comment, but so far it has not responded. Nor, it appears, has it responded to calls from the FCCC for clarification.

“Yahoo has not answered the FCCC’s questions about the attacks, nor has it told individual email users how the accounts were accessed. Password security and malware are ongoing concerns, but it’s unclear whether they are related to this case,” the FCCC said in a statement on its web site.

Until more clarification is provided, the FCCC is recommending that its users take care whenever they use email, particularly if the content is sensitive, and particularly if they use Yahoo Mail.

It said users should check their account settings to make sure that no forwarding addresses have been added, and change their passwords frequently.

The agency's warning ends by reminding users that email "does not appear to be secure in China, and that alternate means of arranging interviews and conducting other sensitive business are often preferable”.

This is not the first time that email has been tampered with in China. Google issued a similar warning to users after some of its mail accounts were hacked in January.