Fergie's Tech Blog

Hackers Used Rigged PDFs to Hit Google - And Adobe, Says Researcher

Gregg Keizer writes on ComputerWorld:

Adobe today confirmed that the cyberattack that hit its corporate network earlier this month was connected to the large-scale attacks Google cited yesterday as one reason it might abandon China.

Meanwhile, some researchers have hinted, and others have claimed, that the attacks against both Google and Adobe were based on malicious PDFs that exploited a just-patched vulnerability in Adobe's popular Reader software.

Adobe is the first company to step forward after Google announced yesterday that the attacks were aimed at accessing Gmail accounts of human rights activists.

"We are still in the process of conducting our investigation into the incident," said Wiebke Lips, Adobe's senior manager of corporate communications, in an e-mail reply to questions today. "[But] It appears that this incident and the one Google announced earlier are related."

Yesterday, Google and Adobe acknowledged that their company systems had been struck by what both firms characterized as "sophisticated" attacks. Google added that it believed the attacks against its network, which took place last month, originated in China.

posted by Fergie @ 1/13/2010 05:42:00 PM