China Sets Goal of Blocking Outlook Too
The previous Gmail blocking which coincidentally matched the day that a new chairperson of the Cyberspace Administration of China, Lu Wei, was appointed. He is also the Central Propaganda Department vice chairman.
The latest move in Western email blocking was to begin attempts to block access to Outlook email services within the Chinese mainland.
An attack known as a “man in the middle” attack was used complete with the suggestion that the Outlook domain was unsafe and offering a fake security certificate for installation.
China has a habit of attempting different ways to actively block Western online services in favor of domestic alternatives. This latest Outlook blocking attempt following the Gmail blocking comes as a second blow to expat email users in the Chinese mainland and also for businesses operating in the country many of whom rely on these email services to conduct business.
The attack ended soon after, but it is expected that further attacks on Outlook and other popular email services will be imminent as clearly this is one area where the “propaganda” proponent sees blocking email access within the country as not a problem for the government.
