The US Government believes it is getting closer to the source of last year’s attack on Google, the Financial Times has reported.
It is understood the Government has identified a Chinese man who wrote part of the code for a spyware program used in the attacks. An unnamed source told the FT the man posted this code on a site, where he said it was something he was working on.
“If he wants to do the research he’s good at, he has to toe the line now and again,” the source said, referring to the man’s relationship with the Chinese Government.
“He would rather not have uniformed guys looking over his shoulder, but there is no way anyone of his skill level can get away from that kind of thing. The state has privileged access to these researchers’ work.”
The report comes as tensions between the US and China are growing thin, after Google has threatened to leave the country due to similar hacking attacks.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
