Security News > 2010 > April > Google hackers duped system administrators to penetrate networks, experts say

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/20/AR2010042005300.html By Ellen Nakashima Washington Post Staff Writer April 21, 2010 The hackers who penetrated the computer networks of Google and more than 30 other large companies used an increasingly common means of attack: duping system administrators and other executives who have access to passwords, intellectual property and other information, according to cybersecurity experts familiar with the cases. "Once you gain access to the directory of user names and passwords, in minutes you can take over a network," said George Kurtz, worldwide chief technology officer for McAfee, a Silicon Valley computer security firm that has been working with more than half a dozen of the targeted companies. Kurtz and others said hackers are mounting ever more sophisticated and effective attacks that often begin with a ruse familiar to many computer users -- a seemingly innocuous link or attachment that admits malicious software. The attacks were publicized in January when Google, one of the world's most advanced tech firms, announced that intruders had penetrated its network and compromised valuable intellectual property. Google asserted that the attacks originated in China; Chinese officials say they are investigating. [...] ___________________________________________________________ Register now for HITBSecConf2010 - Dubai, the premier deep-knowledge network security event in the GCC, featuring keynote speakers John Viega and Matt Watchinski! http://conference.hitb.org/hitbsecconf2010dxb/

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/20/AR2010042005300.html