Hackers in China who broke into Gmail accounts last week were going after White House users, among others, The Wall Street Journal reported. The phishing attack was particularly alarming because some administration officials have been known to discuss work-related information through their personal email accounts.

Phishing attacks targeting government and corporate users have become increasingly sophisticated, sometimes luring victims by mentioning topics they are known to be involved in. In April, a phishing attack went after employees at a U.S. government facility, who opened a link containing malware.

Gmail is far from being the lone venue for these kinds of attacks, however. Hotmail and Yahoo Mail users have been targets of similar hacking efforts, and Facebook accounts also have been used in the process, reports Robert McMillan at PCWorld.

As organizations have deployed greater security measures to fortify their networks, hackers have turned to users' personal accounts as a side door into corporate and government networks. By scouring personal emails, hackers are able to come up with authentic-sounding messages to get victims to click on links, open documents or go to malicious sites. At that point, they turn over control of their PCs.

For more:
- Devlin Barrett and Siobahn Gorman's article at The Wall Street Journal
- Robert McMillan's article at PCWorld

Related Articles:
Security vendor: Mobile users more vulnerable to phishing scams
Phishers target active online users
Should cyber attacks be considered acts of war?
Stolen RSA SecurID data blamed for hack attempts at L-3 Communications