MisterWebNet

Google just doesn't get China. It never did. It entered the Chinese market in 2006 with a censored search engine. Doing so it angered many human rights activists by bowing to pressure from the Chinese government to censor sites and searches at the whim of the ruling Communist party. So much for the Google motto 'Do No Evil'. Apparently, Do No Evil does not extend to supporting access to information without it being censored.

Good to see that Google has now been bitten in the ass by the Chinese. China, one of the biggest hacking operations in the world was always going to be interested in the might of Google. Why would they want a foreign company controlling a vast resource such as the internet? In a blog post by David Drummond, development and chief legal office over at Google, he said Google were considering pulling out of China due to a hacking attempt.

The hacking attempt apparently targeted the email accounts of human rights activists within China (ya right. So no software was stolen then?). According to Mr. Drummond:

“These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered — combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web — have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China,”

Is he saying that there are degrees of free speech on the web? After all they bowed in 2006 and gave free speech the boot in the bottom in exchange for a stab at the Chinese market. What's changed in that regard?

The New York Times quotes a security expert on Chinese electronic warfare James Mulvenon: “For Google to pull up stakes and basically pull out China, the attack must have been large in scope and very penetrating,” Mr. Mulvenon said. “This attack highlights the fact that cyberwarfare has basically gone to the next level.”