“Hundreds of personal Gmail accounts, including those of some senior U.S. government officials, were hacked as a result of a massive phishing scheme originating from China, Google said Wednesday.

The account hijackings were a result of stolen passwords, likely by malware installed on victims’ computers or through victims’ responses to e-mails from malicious hackers posing as trusted sources. That type of hack is known as phishing. Gmail’s security systems themselves were not compromised, Google said. “

Source: Massive Gmail phishing attack hits senior U.S. officials – Jun. 1, 2011