The Wall Street Journal said Thursday its computers were hit by Chinese hackers, the latest US media organization citing an effort to spy on its journalists covering China.
The Journal made the announcement a day after The New York Times said hackers, possibly connected to China's military, had infiltrated its computers in response to its expose of the vast wealth amassed by a top leader's family.
The Journal said in a news article that the attacks were "for the apparent purpose of monitoring the newspaper's China coverage" and suggest that Chinese spying on US media "has become a widespread phenomenon."
"Evidence shows that infiltration efforts target the monitoring of the Journal's coverage of China, and are not an attempt to gain commercial advantage or to misappropriate customer information," said a statement from Paula Keve of Journal parent Dow Jones, a unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
The Journal gave no timeline for the attacks but said a network overhaul to bolster security had been completed on Thursday.
"We fully intend to continue the aggressive and independent journalism for which we are known," Keve said.
On Wednesday, The New York reported that hackers have over the past four months infiltrated computer systems and stole staff passwords.
The effort has been particularly focused on the emails of Shanghai bureau chief David Barboza, the newspaper said.
According to a Barboza story published on October 25, close relatives of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have made billions of dollars in business dealings.
"Chinese hackers, using methods that some consultants have associated with the Chinese military in the past, breached The Times's network," the ne
