Hackers Hit Password System on Google
Ever since Google disclosed in January that Internet intruders had stolen information from its computers, the exact nature and extent of the theft has been a closely guarded company secret. But a person with direct knowledge of the investigation now says that the losses included one of Googles crown jewels, a password system that controls access by millions of users worldwide to almost all of the companys Web services, including e-mail and business applications.
The theft began with an instant message sent to a Google employee in China who was using Microsofts Messenger program, according to the person with knowledge of the internal inquiry, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified. By clicking on a link and connecting to a poisoned Web site, the employee inadvertently permitted the intruders to gain access to his (or her) personal computer and then to the computers of a critical group of software developers at Googles headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Ultimately, the intruders were able to gain control of a software repository used by the development team.
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