Google threatens to leave China & Gmail security

Google had announced that it detected a very sophisticated attack on its network. These attack originated from China and resulted in the theft to some data and Gmail accounts belonging to Chinese Humanitarian workers. Google also said that even though the accounts were compromised only information like email account creation date was leaked and that the actual contents on the mails were safe.

China has strict laws that censor anything that goes against the government, infact I feel they probably can access most of the stuff we enjoy. When Google started its offices in China in 2006, they had agreed to censor some information from their search engine as requested by the Chinese Government.

The recent attack on its infrastructure sparked off the fire with Google announcing the whole story through their blog. Now they are considering to close offices in China and pull out if the Chines government will not allow an uncensored search results.

The Chinese government (as usual) tried their best to censor this news ! It quickly fell out of the headlines and faded away. This wakes us wonder, don’t the people have a right to know ? If the government keeps deciding what to see and what not too, wont China be left behind in the internet race ?

Google had made clear in their blog that the security loopholes used to attack their server have been fixed and is now protected from such attacks. To make the users feel more secure they made HTTPS default for Gmail. HTTPS is a secure connection between the user and the server but in the process it makes pages load slower. Google always had an option “Always use https”, but now this feature is active by default.

Users now have the option of going to settings and choosing “Don’t always use https” but Gmail will still use https on the login page regardless.

Today, China responded to Google’s threat with Chinese Foreign Ministry saying “The Chinese government administers the Internet according to law and we have explicit stipulations over what content can be spread on the Internet.”. It also said “Effective guidance of public opinion on the Internet is an important way of protecting the security of online information.” Guidance of public opinion, doesnt that in simple words mean misguiding ?

Looks like Google’s days in China is coming to an end after all. With no other company in China that can replace Google, it would only stand to loose if Google quits.

Should Chinese government stop censoring information ? Leave a comment, tell us your thoughts !

Alfred

Alfred is a Pilot & Tech blogger from India. Currently he is pursuing a career in aviation.

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6 Comments

January 18, 2010 at 8:44 pm

Alfred

You have a point but think of it from another point of view. If google leaves, who has that innovative and tech capability to replace them.. Answer no one…
January 18, 2010 at 8:43 pm

Alfred

Google isnt really going to make more money just by uncensoring some topics… They are standing up for freedom of speech..
January 18, 2010 at 6:17 pm

how to become a police officer

interesting post and I still don’t trust them that much. They’re so big now that they can challenge Chairman Mao.So because Google wants to make more money, they are insisting one of the oldest nations change it’s political mindset?!?
January 18, 2010 at 7:18 am

Udegbunam Chukwudi

It still baffles me what China is aiming at by isolating themselves from the world. All year long, it’s censor this censor that.
January 18, 2010 at 5:59 am

ShotGlassSam010

A country other than one’s own will most likely offer a varitey of different and unusual things. Some may be liked, others maybe not. If Google does not like the way China wants them to operate, then Google should leave .. not try to change China.

What would someone say if a Chinese company came to their country and said, ‘Start censoring Internet access or we will leave’? That company would be told to go back to China! In their minds, they are just as right as we are in our own minds about our own policies.

And why is Google in China anyway? To make a buck. So because Google wants to make more money, they are insisting one of the oldest nations change it’s political mindset?!? Ha! Just go somewhere else Google! What was that? Oh, China has so many, many people to make money from that you don’t want to leave? Then operate and make your buck in China .. according to their rules.
January 17, 2010 at 10:30 pm

Stephen Reis

Good move for Google, but I still dont trust them that much. They’re so big now that they can challenge Chairman Mao.

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