News / Economy / China

US media giant News Corp accuses China of digital theft

Saturday, 05 February 2022 4:42 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 05 February 2022 4:42 PM ]

The Wall Street Journal sign outside its building in Manhattan, New York City. (File photo)

Chinese hackers have been accused of intruding into the digital network of an American multinational mass media corporation.

News Corp email accounts were breached and the data of an unspecified number of journalists was compromised, the company claimed on Friday.

The New York-headquartered company owned by 90-year-old Aussie media mogul Rupert Murdoch, said the alleged breach, which was now contained, had been discovered in January.

The breach affected emails and documents of a limited number of employees, including journalists, the US media firm reported.

In a letter seen by Reuters, News Corp executives told its employees that “we believe the activity affected a limited number of business email accounts and documents from News Corp headquarters, News Technology Services, Dow Jones, News UK, and New York Post.”

"Our preliminary analysis indicates that foreign government involvement may be associated with this activity, and that some data was taken," they said.

An executive at the cybersecurity firm responsible for containing the alleged breach accused China of being behind the illegal intrusion.

The hackers were believed to have "a China nexus, and we believe they are likely involved in espionage activities to collect intelligence to benefit China's interests," Mandiant's vice president of consulting, David Wong, said

The Chinese Embassy in Washington dismissed such reports, calling for "a professional, responsible and evidence-based approach to identifying cyber-related incidents, rather than making allegations based on speculations."