Hackers with possible ties to the Chinese military have repeatedly attacked the New York Times computer systems over the past four months, possibly in retaliation for a series of stories that the paper ran exposing vast wealth accumulated by the family of outgoing premier Wen Jiabao, the newspaper has reported.
The hackers gained entry to the newspaper's internal systems and accessed the personal computers of 53 employees including David Barboza, its Shanghai bureau chief and author of the Wen expose, and Jim Yardley, a former Beijing bureau chief.
An investigation by Mandiant, a cyber-security company hired by the paper, concluded that the hacks were likely part of an elaborate spy campaign with links to the country's military.
Although the hackers gained passwords for every Times employee, Mandiant found that they only sought information that was related to the Wen story. - (Guardian service)