Rupert Murdoch says Chinese hackers are still targeting Wall Street Journal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/feb/06/rupert-murdoch-chinese-hackers-journal

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Rupert Murdoch has waded into the row over cyber-attacks from China, by tweeting that hackers have continued their work.

The Wall Street Journal, owned by Murdoch's News Corporation, was one of several media organisations to disclose that it had been targeted by Chinese hackers after the New York Times went public about the four-month hacking campaign it had experienced.

Murdoch tweeted on Wednesday morning: "Chinese still hacking us, or were over weekend."

No one at News Corporation was immediately available for comment, but the Journal said last week the attackers broke into its network via computers in its Beijing bureau and had tried to monitor its coverage of China. It described the attack as an ongoing issue and said it was working closely with authorities and security specialists to deal with the problem.

A blistering commentary in the paper added: "Whatever else the Chinese thought they were doing by hacking us, they didn't stop the publication of a single article. Now they have only magnified their embarrassment … Perhaps they will now try to deny us travel visas, harass our journalists or otherwise interfere with our business in China.

"Meantime, we read that the FBI is investigating China's media hacking and treating it as a national security issue. It's also a plain-old crime, undertaken by a government that fancies itself the world's next superpower but acts like a giant thievery corporation."

The New York Times said the lengthy campaign against it began around the time it revealed the vast wealth amassed by premier Wen Jiabao's family.

A spokesman for the foreign ministry in Beijing denied Chinese involvement, telling reporters: "Reaching such conclusions for no reason with uncertain evidence and no proof and saying that China participates in relevant online attacks is totally irresponsible."

Bloomberg has also said it was hit by hackers and the Washington Post was another target.

This week the People's Daily, the official Communist party newspaper, ran a front-page article accusing the US of "fanning the fear" of China by blaming it for hacking. It said it was easy to conceal the true source of the hacking and added that Chinese websites had experienced more attacks from US-based IP addresses than from any other country.