Google Announcement on China

Google made a significant announcement on their blog recently. The blog post is at http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-approach-to-china.html. It has to do with Google potentially pulling out of China altogether. It states that Google is no longer willing to filter results and they appear willing to close up shop in China. According to the post, it looks like the straw that broke the camels back was a series of successful attacks against Google originating from China. These attacks appear to be directed towards human rights activists that actively promote human rights in China. They were apparantely attempting to compromise gmail accounts. They also discovered through this experience that many human rights activists have already had their gmail accounts compromised through malware, phishing, or other techniques.

I must commend Google on the way they handle the information security breach. They are forthright about it. See, Google understands that breaches happen. They also understand they are significant and must be addressed promptly. They utilize the resources to delve fully into them…which often uncover additional issues.