Google China Hackers May Have Had Inside Man

Google's original announcement about an attack based in China was almost breathtaking; it was hard to imagine the tech leader, which employs thousands of brilliant people, losing so badly to hackers. But an explanation could be surfacing insofar as a new report's indicated that some Google employees may have helped the hackers.

Reuters - which isn't in the business of spreading baseless rumors - stated this morning, "Google is investigating whether one or more employees may have helped facilitate a cyber-attack that the U.S. search giant said it was a victim of in mid-December, two sources told Reuters on Monday."

More specifically, people who actually work for Google in China are said to be under the microscope.

From a how-did-they-do-it perspective, involvement on that end of things would make a lot of sense. It could explain why Google's ready to abandon China, too, since the corporation probably isn't equipped to fight the Chinese government (which most experts believe was behind the attacks) at every turn.

Still, any inward-looking investigation may just be a matter of Google covering its bases. It's a little too early to start comparing this matter to some spy thriller just yet.