Journalists working for Rupert Murdoch 's media empire News Corp in the US and UK have had their email accounts hacked in an apparen...
Journalists working for Rupert Murdoch's media empire News Corp in the US and UK have had their email accounts hacked in an apparent cyber attack linked to China.
The New York-based group said employees at the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post as well as staff at its News UK division - which owns The Sun and The Times in Britain - had all been affected in the hack, which accessed some workers' data.
The hack was discovered on January 20 and the firm's internet security adviser claimed it was likely aimed at gathering 'intelligence to benefit China's interests'.
News Corp said the breach accessed emails and documents of a 'limited number' of employees, but added that cybersecurity firm Mandiant had 'contained' the attack.
The company, founded by the Australian-born media mogul, said its online security experts did not believe any financial or user data had been targeted by the hackers, suggesting they were only interested in information relating to its journalism.
Rupert Murdoch (pictured in New York in October 2019) is the founder of News Corp which owns the Sun and Times newspapers through its News UK division
The News UK offices in London Bridge where journalists suffered a cyber attack last month
News Corp said other business units including HarperCollins Publishers, Move, News Corp Australia, Foxtel, REA and Storyful were not targeted in the hack.
All staff received an email from the firm's chief technology officer David Kline and chief information security officer Billy O'Brien informing them about the attack.
The message, which has been seen by MailOnline, said: 'Although we are in the early stages of our investigation, we believe the activity affected a limited number of business email accounts and documents from News Corp headquarters, News Technology Services, Dow Jones, News UK, and New York Post.
'Our preliminary analysis indicates that foreign government involvement may be associated with this activity, and that some data was taken.
'Mandiant assesses that those behind this activity have a China nexus and believes they are likely involved in espionage activities to collect intelligence to benefit China's interests.'
The hack will raise concerns over the safety of confidential sources, with News Corp saying it was now working with staff whose accounts were affected.
The email continued: 'Our highest concern is the protection of our employees, including our journalists, and their sources.
'We are working closely with the leadership teams of the affected businesses to inform those employees whose accounts were impacted and help them take appropriate measures.
'As an employee, if you are not contacted directly about this activity, we do not believe your account was targeted.
'To our knowledge, this activity was not targeted at our other business units, including HarperCollins Publishers, Move, News Corp Australia, Foxtel, REA, and Storyful.'
News Corp called in the cybersecurity firm Mandiant when it discovered the attack - with the news first revealed today by the Wall Street Journal, sourced from a filing by News Corp to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
News Corp added that their experts did not believe any financial or user data had been targeted by the hackers.
Its email to staff said: 'On January 20, News Corp discovered attack activity on a system used by several of our business units.
'As soon as we discovered the activity, we notified U.S. law enforcement and launched an investigation with the assistance of Mandiant - a leading cybersecurity firm.
'As part of our efforts, we promptly took steps to contain the activity and our investigation to date indicates that the systems housing customer and financial data were not affected.
In addition, we have not experienced related interruptions to our business operations. Based on our investigation to date, we believe the threat activity is contained.'
The Chinese Embassy in the United States did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Reuters today.
Earlier this week, FBI director Christopher Wray said the threat to the West from the Chinese government is 'more brazen' and damaging than ever before.
He accused Beijing of stealing American ideas and innovation and launching massive hacking operations.
His speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library amounted to a stinging rebuke of the Chinese government just days before Beijing is set to occupy the global stage by hosting the Winter Olympics.
It made clear that even as American foreign policy remains consumed by Russia-Ukraine tensions, the US continues to regard China as its biggest threat to long-term economic security.
'When we tally up what we see in our investigations, over 2,000 of which are focused on the Chinese government trying to steal our information or technology, there's just no country that presents a broader threat to our ideas, innovation, and economic security than China,' Mr Wray said.
The FBI is opening new cases to counter Chinese intelligence operations every 12 hours or so, with Chinese government hackers stealing more personal and corporate data than all other countries combined, Mr Wray said.
Journalists working for News Corp (offices pictured in New York in 2018) have suffered a hack
Earlier this week, FBI director Christopher Wray (pictured) said the threat to the West from the Chinese government is 'more brazen' and damaging than ever before
'The harm from the Chinese government's economic espionage isn't just that its companies pull ahead based on illegally gotten technology. While they pull ahead, they push our companies and workers behind,' Mr Wray said.
'That harm - company failures, job losses - has been building for a decade to the crush we feel today. It's harm felt across the country, by workers in a whole range of industries.'
Chinese government officials have repeatedly rejected accusations from the US government, with the spokesman for the embassy in Washington saying last July that Americans have 'made groundless attacks' and malicious smears about Chinese cyber attacks. The statement described China as a 'staunch defender of cybersecurity'.
The threat from China is hardly new, but it has also not abated over the last decade. 'I've spoken a lot about this threat since I became director in 2017', Mr Wray said.
'But I want to focus on it here tonight because it's reached a new level - more brazen, more damaging, than ever before, and it's vital - vital - that all of us focus on that threat together.'
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