
Internet search company
Google says it may end operations in China over alleged breaches of the
e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.
It said it had found a "sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China".
It
did not specifically accuse China's government but said it was no
longer willing to censor its Chinese site's results, as the government
requires.
Google said the decision may mean it has to shut the site, set up in 2006.
Phishing scam
Shortly after the news was announced, shares in Google fell by 1.23% to $584 (£361) in after-hours trading in New York.
In a blog post announcing its decision, Google's David Drummond said:
"A primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of
Chinese human rights activists."
The company said its investigation into the attack found two Gmail accounts appeared to have been accessed.
However,
activity was limited to account information such as the date the
account was created and subject line, rather than e-mail content, it
said.
It was also discovered the accounts of dozens of US,
China and Europe-based Gmail users, who are "advocates of human rights
in China", appeared to have been "routinely accessed by third parties".
It said these accounts had not been accessed through any
security breach at Google, but "most likely via phishing scams or
malware placed on users' computers".
BBC technology
correspondent Rory Cellan Jones said the attacks, coupled with further
attempts to limit free speech, had led Google to reconsider its
position.
"If, as seems likely, the government refuses to allow it to operate an uncensored service, then Google will pull out.
"That will leave other overseas web companies operating in China with difficult decisions to make," he added.
Google first launched in China four years ago after agreeing to censor some search results.
The move led to accusations it had betrayed its company motto - "don't be evil".
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