Aurora Attackers Were Looking For Google's Surveillance Database

An anonymous reader writes "When in early 2010 Google shared with the public that they had been breached in what became known as the Aurora attacks, they said that the attackers got their hands on some source code and were looking to access Gmail accounts of Tibetan activists. What they didn't make public is that the hackers have also accessed a database containing information about court-issued surveillance orders that enabled law enforcement agencies to monitor email accounts belonging to diplomats, suspected spies and terrorists. Whether this was the primary goal of the attacks as well as how much information was exfiltrated is unknown. current and former U.S. government officials interviewed by the Washington Post say that the database in question was possibly accessed in order to discover which Chinese intelligence operatives located in the U.S. were under surveillance."

Comments

Google, Big Brother's Helper ?

[Taco Cowboy]

What they didn't make public is that the hackers have also accessed a database containing information about court-issued surveillance orders that enabled law enforcement agencies to monitor email accounts belonging to diplomats, suspected spies and terrorists.

... and anybody else, as long as the authority can label them "potential threats"

Welcome to 1984, man !!

Re:Helpful hint.

[iggymanz]

nonsense, overt communication of misinformation is a time honored counterintelligence technique. Real messages can also be covertly conveyed in the same channel