Microsoft Failed To Warn Victims Of Chinese Email Hack: Former Employees

[Ron Burgundy]

By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp experts concluded several years ago that Chinese authorities had hacked into more than a thousand Hotmail email accounts, targeting international leaders of China’s Tibetan and Uighur minorities in particular – but it decided not to tell the victims, allowing the hackers to continue their campaign, according to former employees of the company. On Wednesday, after a series of requests for comment from Reuters, Microsoft said it would change its policy and in future tell its email customers when it suspects there has been a government hacking attempt. The first public signal of the attacks came in May 2011, though no direct link was immediately made with the Chinese authorities.

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