Another Round: Google Warns Gmail Users on Spying Attempts from China
Recently,
a number of users have been witnessing a glaring red banner popping up when
they accessed their Gmail account, saying “Warning: We believe your account was
recently accessed from: China (IP ADDRESS)”. ThreatPost reports that among the
seemingly random victims — gamers, doctors, media consultants — was also a member
of Privacy International in the United Kingdom. Even though his Gmail account
is wholly unconnected with his work for the human rights organization, he said
that it is possible that he was targeted because of a EU-China Human Rights
Network seminar during which he discussed freedom of speech issues and
differences between the EU and China on that account. All users who have been
similarly warned are advised by Google to change their passwords. Technolog
asked Google to comment on the occurrence, and they said that the banner is
simply part of the security feature introduced in March.