A massive cyber attack that originated in China has resulted in the hacking of hundreds of personal Gmail accounts--including some belonging to senior U.S. government officials--said Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) in a mid-week announcement. The Gmail accounts of some South Korean officials and journalists were also among those hacked. Google has declined to comment on how it became aware of the recent attacks, though the company did say that the attack was conducted using phishing techniques, in which hackers attempt to extract confidential data by posing as trusted parties.

One concern is that administration officials may have skirted rules and used their personal email accounts to discuss official matters. For now, it is understood that the FBI is working with Google to identify the origin of the phishing campaign, as well as to determine what information was compromised. Because of the huge amount of storage space afforded by Gmail, users generally do not delete old emails--meaning hackers may have had access to vast troves of information.

In response to the allegations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei denied that the Chinese government was the source of the hack. He told reporters that "allegations that the Chinese government supports hacking activities are completely unfounded and made with ulterior motives."

For more:
- check out this article at CNNMoney
- check out this article at CNN
- check out this article at PC Mag
- check out this article at The Wall Street Journal

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