A State Department source in China told the U.S. that the Chinese government was behind the Google Aurora attacks last year. The cache of more than 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables that WikiLeaks began releasing on Sunday includes a document linking China’s Politburo to the December 2009 hack of Google’s computer systems.The U.S. Embassy in Beijing was told by an unidentified Chinese contact that China’s Politburo “directed the intrusion into Google’s computer systems,” the New York Times reported Sunday, citing a single leaked State Department cable.“The Google hacking was part of a coordinated campaign of computer sabotage carried out by government operatives, private security experts and Internet outlaws recruited by the Chinese government. They have broken into American government computers and those of Western allies, the Dalai Lama and American businesses since 2002, cables said,” the Times reported.The cable is another piece of evidence, albeit thinly sourced, linking China to the Google attack. Wikileaks is gradually releasing this latest set of cables, and the document in question was not available on WikiLeaks’ Web site at press time. The Times, along with a handful of other newspapers, was given early access to the documents. Security experts have linked the attacks to servers at a university used by the Chinese military, and both Google and the State Department implied that they thought China was behind the attacks when they were first disclosed in January, but nobody has produced conclusive proof that they were state-sponsored.Google was one of more than 30 companies targeted in the attacks, known as Aurora. Google said the primary goal of the hackers was to access the Gmail accounts of human rights activists, and that the attack apparently failed. Within hours of Google acknowledging the Aurora attacks, the State Department issued a statement, saying the attacks were serious and asking the Chinese government for an explanation.The state documents are the latest blockbuster disclosure to come from the document-leaking organization. Earlier this year, WikiLeaks came under fire from U.S. authorities after releasing hundreds of thousands of military documents relating to the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.Wikileaks and State Department representatives could not be reached immediately for comment Sunday. Earlier this year, the State Department said that it regrets, “all of the activities that WikiLeaks has done, past, present, and future.”Robert McMillan covers computer security and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Robert on Twitter at @bobmcmillan. Robert’s e-mail address is robert_mcmillan@idg.com Related content feature Top cybersecurity M&A deals for 2023 Fears of recession, rising interest rates, mass tech layoffs, and conservative spending trends are likely to make dealmakers cautious, but an ever-increasing need to defend against bigger and faster attacks will likely keep M&A activity steady in By CSO Staff Sep 22, 2023 24 mins Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and Acquisitions brandpost Unmasking ransomware threat clusters: Why it matters to defenders Similar patterns of behavior among ransomware treat groups can help security teams better understand and prepare for attacks By Joan Goodchild Sep 21, 2023 3 mins Cybercrime news analysis China’s offensive cyber operations support “soft power” agenda in Africa Researchers track Chinese cyber espionage intrusions targeting African industrial sectors. By Michael Hill Sep 21, 2023 5 mins Advanced Persistent Threats Cyberattacks Critical Infrastructure brandpost Proactive OT security requires visibility + prevention You cannot protect your operation by simply watching and waiting. It is essential to have a defense-in-depth approach. By Austen Byers Sep 21, 2023 4 mins Security Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe