SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft Corp experts concluded several years ago that Chinese authorities had hacked into more than a thousand Hotmail e-mail 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 Dec 30, after a series of requests for comment from Reuters, Microsoft said it would change its policy and in future tell its e-mail customers when it suspects there has been a government hacking attempt. Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw said the company was never certain of the origin of the Hotmail attacks.