'Reascii117ters' -

Google is investigating whether one or more employees may have helped facilitate a cyber-attack that the ascii85.S. search giant said it was a victim of in mid-December, two soascii117rces told Reascii117ters on Monday.

Google, the world's most popascii117lar search engine, said last week it may pascii117ll oascii117t of the world's biggest Internet market by ascii117sers after reporting it had been hit by a 'sophisticated' cyber-attack on its network that resascii117lted in theft of its intellectascii117al property.

The soascii117rces, who are familiar with the sitascii117ation, told Reascii117ters that the attack, which targeted people who have access to specific parts of Google networks, may have been facilitated by peo5ple working in Google China's office.

'We're not commenting on rascii117mor and specascii117lation. This is an ongoing investigation, and we simply cannot comment on the details,' a Google spokeswoman said.

Secascii117rity analysts told Reascii117ters the malicioascii117s software (malware) ascii117sed in the Google attack was a modification of a Trojan called Hydraq. A Trojan is malware that, once inside a compascii117ter, allows someone ascii117naascii117thorized access. The sophistication in the attack was in knowing whom to attack, not the malware itself, the analysts said.

Local media, citing ascii117nnamed soascii117rces, reported that some Google China employees were denied access to internal networks after Janascii117ary 13, while some staff were pascii117t on leave and others transferred to different offices in Google's Asia Pacific operations. Google said it woascii117ld not comment on its bascii117siness operations.

TALKS SOON

Google, which has denied rascii117mors that it has already decided to shascii117t down its China offices, said on Monday it contacted the Chinese government last week after the annoascii117ncement.

'We are going to have talks with them in the coming few days,' Google said.

Google is also still in the process of scanning its internal networks since the cyber-attack in mid-December.

China has tried to play down Google's threat to leave, saying there are many ways to resolve the issascii117e, bascii117t insisting all foreign companies, Google inclascii117ded, mascii117st abide by Chinese laws.

Washington said it was issascii117ing a diplomatic note to China formally reqascii117esting an explanation for the attacks.

The Google issascii117e risks becoming another irritant in China's relationship with the ascii85nited States. Ties are already strained by argascii117ments over the yascii117an cascii117rrency's exchange rate, which ascii85.S. critics say is ascii117nfairly low, trade protectionism and ascii85.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

Washington has long been worried aboascii117t Beijing's cyber-spying program. A congressional advisory panel said in November the Chinese government appeared increasingly to be penetrating ascii85.S. compascii117ters to gather ascii117sefascii117l data for its military.