The Wall Street Journal
A Los Angeles-based law firm representing a U.S. company in a $2.2 billion suit against the Chinese government and several global computer makers said Wednesday it has suffered cyber attacks originating in China.
The firm said the attacks are similar to the ones suffered last year by its client Cybersitter LLC, which is claiming that China pirated parts of its Internet filtering software for the controversial Green Dam Youth Escort program.
"It would be a very strange coincidence indeed if the attacks were unrelated to the lawsuit, because our firm does not ordinarily in the course of business experience these kinds of attacks," said Gregory Fayer, an attorney at Gipson Hoffman & Pancione.
The firm said that on Monday evening its attorneys began receiving trojan emails, disguised to appear as emails from other members of the firm, constructed to retrieve data from the company's computers.
Mr. Fayer said the attacks originated from Chinese servers, but the firm is unsure if the attacks are from the private or government actor.
The firm has reported the incident to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating, as well as the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.
The firm's announcement came as allegations of cyber attacks from China are rising sharply. Google Inc. on Tuesday threatened to withdraw from China, saying it had discovered massive cyber attacks against itself and numerous other foreign companies that it said emanated from China.
California-based Cybersitter, a maker of parental-control software, alleges thousands of lines of its code were copied by Chinese software developers for the Green Dam software, which was introduced last year in China to filter Internet content on individual computers.
Cybersitter is suing two Chinese software developers and the Chinese government, as well as seven major Asian computer makers for distributing the software along with computers. The suit names Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp., China-based Lenovo Group, and Haier Group, and Taiwan-based Acer Inc., Asustek Computer Inc., and BenQ Corp.
Acer, Lenovo and BenQ last week declined to comment on the suit, but said they are no longer shipping software. Toshiba and Asustek declined to comment. Haier and Sony didn't respond to requests to comment.
In its suit, Cybersitter also complains of a series of attacks on its computer systems. The company said there have thousands of attempts originating in China, at least one originating from a government agency, to gain access to its private servers, which hold all its proprietary code and information.
Cybersitter also said its employees received Trojan e-mails originating in China that were disguised as emails from its other employees.
China says Green Dam is intended to block pornographic and other harmful content, but critics say it also blocks politically sensitive information and is merely an extension of Beijing's Internet censorship system. Last year Beijing initially mandated that the software be installed on all computers in China, but it backed down and made use of the software optional after an outcry from international businesses and Chinese citizens.
"It would be a very strange coincidence indeed if the attacks were unrelated to the lawsuit, because our firm does not ordinarily in the course of business experience these kinds of attacks," said Gregory Fayer, an attorney at Gipson Hoffman & Pancione.
The firm said that on Monday evening its attorneys began receiving trojan emails, disguised to appear as emails from other members of the firm, constructed to retrieve data from the company's computers.
Mr. Fayer said the attacks originated from Chinese servers, but the firm is unsure if the attacks are from the private or government actor.
The firm has reported the incident to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating, as well as the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.
The firm's announcement came as allegations of cyber attacks from China are rising sharply. Google Inc. on Tuesday threatened to withdraw from China, saying it had discovered massive cyber attacks against itself and numerous other foreign companies that it said emanated from China.
California-based Cybersitter, a maker of parental-control software, alleges thousands of lines of its code were copied by Chinese software developers for the Green Dam software, which was introduced last year in China to filter Internet content on individual computers.
Cybersitter is suing two Chinese software developers and the Chinese government, as well as seven major Asian computer makers for distributing the software along with computers. The suit names Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp., China-based Lenovo Group, and Haier Group, and Taiwan-based Acer Inc., Asustek Computer Inc., and BenQ Corp.
Acer, Lenovo and BenQ last week declined to comment on the suit, but said they are no longer shipping software. Toshiba and Asustek declined to comment. Haier and Sony didn't respond to requests to comment.
In its suit, Cybersitter also complains of a series of attacks on its computer systems. The company said there have thousands of attempts originating in China, at least one originating from a government agency, to gain access to its private servers, which hold all its proprietary code and information.
Cybersitter also said its employees received Trojan e-mails originating in China that were disguised as emails from its other employees.
China says Green Dam is intended to block pornographic and other harmful content, but critics say it also blocks politically sensitive information and is merely an extension of Beijing's Internet censorship system. Last year Beijing initially mandated that the software be installed on all computers in China, but it backed down and made use of the software optional after an outcry from international businesses and Chinese citizens.
