Google Turns Tables on Government Monitors
Google Inc.unveiled a
security measure that warns users of the company's email service when
government agencies attempt to access the users' accounts, a move that
could add to tensions between the company and officials in countries
like China that keep a tight rein on online content.
The measure applies to Google's Gmail service, which the company says has more than 350 million users. When Google detects a government agency's attempt to access Gmail, the service displays a message saying, 'We believe state-sponsored attackers may be attempting to compromise your account or computer.'
Google said the system is intended to help potentially targeted users take additional security measures, such as using a high-security password and two-step identify verification. Google, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., stressed that the email warning doesn't necessarily mean that an agency successfully had gained access or taken control of a Gmail account.
The warning mechanism, which went into effect Tuesday U.S. time, comes as some countries in Asia and the Middle East have boosted efforts to monitor and filter Internet traffic. Google and other U.S. technology companies meanwhile have been under increasing pressure from the U.S. government to push back.
Eric Grosse, Google vice president of security engineering, in a blog post said he couldn't reveal how Google knows if state-sponsored groups are accessing accounts. 'We can't go into the details without giving away information that would be helpful to these bad actors,' he wrote. But he said 'detailed analysis-as well as victim reports-strongly suggests the involvement of states or groups that are state-sponsored.'
The Gmail warning doesn't identify what government is involved. But several Chinese human-rights activists said Wednesday that they had received the message and believed Beijing was behind the monitoring.
'Especially in the Twitter community, a lot of friends of mine got this warning from Gmail,' said activist journalist Zhao Jing, who writes under the name Michael Anti and who said he received a Gmail warning. 'I would say dozens of my friends and me. Most of them…are either activists or very active on the Internet.'
He said that while the friends were spread out across Thailand, New Zealand and Hong Kong, they all assumed China was behind the attacks, given their personal backgrounds as activists on Chinese issues.
Officials at China's State Internet Information Office didn't respond to requests for comment. Chinese officials in the past have defended the country's online policies, saying citizens are free to access the Internet and that the government administers the system according to the law.
Google last week unveiled a feature on its search site in Hong Kong that identified political and other sensitive terms that can cause interruptions by Chinese authorities. Some users in China have reported being unable to access the feature, and Google said it is looking into the problem. The search and the email measures are attempts by Google to show users that hitches they can experience aren't the company's fault.
Analysts have said the moves could lead to trouble with the Chinese government, which typically has been sensitive about attempts to reveal aspects of its Internet filtering and monitoring policies.
On Twitter, Chinese users traded information on who had received the email warning. 'Want to know if you're on China's black list, check if your Gmail interface has Google's light pink warning,' a user with the handle Jackyshadow posted in Chinese.
Some users were disappointed not to have received a warning, taking it as a sign their activist chops weren't up to snuff. Others made light of the situation, posting photos of T-shirts they designed that featured Google's new warning message.
U.S. officials have pushed Internet companies to take measures to ensure open access, amid rising reports of filtering and monitoring in some regions. A bill before Congress would require Internet companies to provide greater disclosure of government attempts to remove or block content in such places. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a conference in December called for greater Internet freedom. The conference was attended by Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, whom she called 'a longtime friend.'
PAUL MOZUR / LORETTA CHAO
谷歌針對政府監控推出新安全舉措
谷
歌(Google Inc.) GOOG -0.60% 推出了一項新安全舉措﹐在政府機構試圖侵入用戶的賬戶時給使用谷歌電子郵件服務的用戶以提醒。此舉可能會加劇谷歌與像中國這樣對互聯網內容實施嚴格管控的一些國家官員之間的緊張關係。這一服務是面向使用谷歌Gmail郵箱服務的用戶推出的。根據谷歌提供的數據﹐Gmail共有3.5億用戶。當谷歌檢測到政府機構試圖侵入用戶的Gmail賬戶時﹐會向用戶顯示一條信息：我們相信政府資助的攻擊者可能正在嘗試侵入你的賬戶或電腦。
谷 歌表示﹐這一措施旨在幫助可能成為侵入目標的用戶採取額外的安全措施﹐如使用安全度更高的密碼﹐或是採用兩步身份認證的方法。總部位於加州山景城 (Mountain View)的谷歌公司強調﹐如果用戶看到警告﹐並不一定意味著有機構已經成功進入或者控制了你的Gmail賬戶。
這個警告機制於美國時間週二開始生效。在當前一段時間里﹐亞洲和中東的一些國家已經加大了監控和過濾互聯網上的信息的力度。與此同時﹐谷歌和其他美國技術公司也越來越多地受到來自美國政府的壓力﹐要求其抵抗此類舉措。
谷 歌負責安全工程的副總裁格羅斯(Eric Grosse)在一篇博客中說﹐他不會透露谷歌是如何得知入侵賬戶的群體是受政府資助的。他寫道﹐如果談論細節的話﹐就不可能不泄露有益於不良分子的信 息。不過他說﹐詳盡的分析和受害者的報告強烈顯示出有政府參與或是有政府資助的群體參與的跡象。
Gmail的警告信息中沒有說明侵入用戶郵箱的是哪國政府。但是幾名中國人權活動人士週三說﹐他們收到過Gmail的警告信息﹐他們認為監視活動的是中國政府所為。
活 動人士、記者趙靜說﹐許多朋友都收到了Gmail的警告﹐尤其是推特(Twitter)社區里的朋友。趙靜以安替(Michael Anti)為筆名撰寫文章。他說自己曾收到過Gmail的警告。他說﹐我和我的十幾個朋友都收到過。他們中大多數人要麼是活動人士﹐要麼在網上非常活躍。
趙靜說﹐雖然他的朋友分散在泰國、新西蘭和香港﹐但鑒於他們作為中國問題活動人士的個人背景﹐他們都認為中國政府是攻擊的幕後主使。
中國國家互聯網信息辦公室的官員沒有回應記者的置評請求。中國官員一直在為中國的網絡政策辯護﹐說公民可以自由訪問互聯網﹐政府依法管理網絡。
谷 歌上週在其位於香港的搜索網站公佈了一項新的功能﹐這項功能能夠識別可能導致中國有關部門中斷用戶的網絡連接的政治和其它敏感詞。部分中國用戶報告說無法 使用這項功能﹐谷歌說正在調查此事。谷歌推出敏感詞提醒和郵件警告這兩項舉措是為了向用戶表明﹐如果他們遇到相關故障﹐這並非谷歌的過錯。
分析人士說﹐這些舉動可能會引發谷歌和中國政府之間的麻煩。中國政府歷來對試圖揭示其互聯網內容過濾和審查政策方面的舉措非常敏感。
中國用戶在推特相互交換收到警告郵件的Gmail用戶信息。一位用戶名為Jackyshadow的用戶用中文寫道：想知道自己在國寶的黑名單上有沒有排上號﹐看看自己的gmail界面有沒有谷歌的粉色信號條吧。
也有用戶對沒有收到警告郵件感到失望﹐他們認為這是他們的民主活動影響力還不夠的一個標志。其他人並沒有特別看重此事﹐他們還貼出了自己設計的印有谷歌新警告信息的T恤的照片。
在 部分地區有關互聯網內容過濾和監測的報告越來越多的情況下﹐美國官員要求互聯網企業採取措施以確保用戶自由訪問。美國國會正在審議的一份法案要求互聯網企 業進一步披露這些國家的政府試圖刪除或阻止互聯網內容的情況。美國國務卿克林頓(Hillary Clinton)在去年12月的一次會議上呼籲進一步提高網絡自由。谷歌首席執行長施密特(Eric Schmidt)參加了此次會議﹐克林頓將施密特稱作“老朋友”。
PAUL MOZUR / LORETTA CHAO
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