Security News > 2011 > February > Alleged White House e-mail cyber incident now called attack from China
http://fcw.com/articles/2011/02/07/alleged-white-house-email-cyberincident-now-called-spoof-attack-from-china.aspx By Alice Lipowicz FCW.com Feb 07, 2011 Officials in the United Kingdom now suggest that a cyberattack from purported White House e-mail accounts actually originated from China, and the perpetrator used a hoax e-mail address that resembled a White House account. Nevertheless, the U.K. officials are also calling for more cooperation among governments to jointly agree on policies for state-based covert cyber activity. The initial reports on Feb. 4 from British Foreign Secretary William Hague indicated that e-mail messages alleged to be from the White House were sent to several British officials in late December. The e-mails contained links that, if opened, would download a virus onto the userâs computer. It was first unclear if the attack came from authentic White House e-mail accounts that had been hacked and infected with a virus or from fake e-mail accounts made to resemble White House e-mail messages. In recent days, the latter scenario appears the more likely. According to several news accounts, Hague referred to âspoofâ White House e-mail accounts, suggesting that the messages were not authentic. [...]