( CNN ) -- The New York Times ' acknowledgment in its Thursday editions that Chinese hackers carried out sustained attacks on its computer systems should be a wake-up call to any company around the world that trades in information , according to computer security experts . `` When you 're dealing with an adversary with significant resources like the Chinese -- or the United States , for that matter -- you need to take some pretty extreme steps , '' said Chris Soghoian , principal technologist for the American Civil Liberty Union 's Speech Privacy and Technology Project . `` Off-the-shelf antivirus software is not going to be enough . '' That 's because consumer antivirus software from business-supply stores such as Staples will not protect computer owners from state-sponsored actors , he said . `` Staples , hopefully , will protect you from a scammer trying to steal your bank account , or a Russian criminal gang trying to put a key logger on your computer . There is no commercial software that is going to keep you safe from a determined government , '' Soghoian said . According to The Times , the cyberassaults took place over four months , beginning during an investigation by the newspaper into the wealth reportedly accumulated by relatives of the Chinese premier , Wen Jiabao . The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that its computer systems also had been infiltrated by Chinese hackers . The hackers were monitoring the newspaper 's China coverage , according to a written statement from Paula Keve , chief communications officer for parent company Dow Jones & Co. `` 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 , '' it read . `` If you 're a newspaper focusing on issues that are going to upset governments , then you need to invest in security as well , '' Soghoian said . Chinese authorities responded to the Times ' reports on Wen 's family members by blocking access to The Times ' website in mainland China . The Times said that it had worked with computer security experts to monitor , study and then eject the attackers . It said that by following their movements , it aimed to `` erect better defenses to block them '' in the future . Experts : Chinese cyberattacks on West widespread . Such efforts are becoming more important as the incidence of hacking appears to grow , Soghoian said . `` The first thing you do is make sure that everything you have is encrypted both in storage or transmission , '' he said . That way , if a reporter leaves a laptop in a hotel room in Beijing and the police try to copy it while the reporter is out of the room , it is protected , he said . But such efforts are not cheap . `` You have to hire a bunch of internal security people , '' he said . `` But if you 're the newspaper of record and you 're talking to whistle-blowers who would go to jail or be tortured or arrested if they talked to you , then you need to take adequate steps . '' The same message applies to any journalist who talks to sensitive sources , particularly in government , in the intelligence or defense communities , he said . `` Those journalists need to take real steps , take significant steps to shield the identities of their sources . '' Soghoian said that , in his experience , few reporters appear to meet that standard . `` Most journalists do n't know much about digital security , '' he said . `` The number of journalists that I communicate with using encrypted e-mails I can probably count on one hand . The number of journalists who would even know how to open an encrypted e-mail is not something to feel confident about . '' Stories about China are not the only ones that reporters should be cautious about , said Peter Toren , a partner in the Washington law firm Weisbrod Matteis & Copley and a former prosecutor with the computer crime and intellectual property section of the Department of Justice . `` Certainly , if I 'm writing a story that implicates somebody who is sophisticated in computer hacking , I would be concerned , '' said Toren , whose expertise includes the area of economic espionage . His feeling is that the incidence of such attacks is growing , but he acknowledged that it 's impossible to quantify . `` You only really find out about it when people are caught , and a lot of organizations do n't necessarily report the hacks or the successful intrusions because they do n't want to be embarrassed . '' Toren added , `` I think just the mere fact that the New York Times admits they were the victim of hacks is something new . '' Law firms are also frequent targets because they tend to take fewer security precautions than do the companies they represent , `` and law firms are in possession of some important information , '' he said . In response , he said , the FBI met last year with security experts at some of New York 's largest firms to help them beef up security . The threat extends to any organization in which information that is worth money is stored on computers -- `` which is just about every organization and every business , '' he said . Prosecutions for hacking are rare and almost impossible to win when an attack is launched from outside the United States , a fact that the hackers exploit , he said . `` It 's just as easy to hack into an American computer from China as it is from Washington , D.C. , given that there are no boundaries in cyberspace . '' One reason companies can get into trouble is because employees are often easy to victimize , said Hemu Nigam , an Internet security analyst and founder and CEO of SSP Blue , which advises companies on Internet security . `` Your security is as good as your weakest link in the company , '' said Nigam , who is a former chief security officer of News Corp. All that 's necessary to introduce malware into a company 's computer system is for an employee to `` click on something that sounds exciting , '' he said . From a security perspective , companies tend to be good at blocking access to their computers through the main entryway , but they tend to do less well blocking other entries , Nigam said . `` Take a house -- you bolt the front door ; somebody breaks in the back door ; then they can go into every room of your house . Companies have to think about closing all the doors around the house and also put a bolt on every door in the house . '' Finding vulnerabilities is not hard for experts , he said . `` Every single client we 've had , we have successfully broken into their network to identify vulnerabilities , and helped them fix them . '' News organizations tend to be among those with laxer security , he said . `` From a philosophical approach , it actually makes sense that they would find themselves open to an attack like this , '' he said , since news organizations , by their very nature , tend to be focused on open access to information . Countries have been using cyber methods to attack each other for at least 15 years , but that fact has only recently gained widespread attention , he said . `` People often say the Cold War has ended ; the reality is the Cold War has gone digital . '' But the Cold War of the last century rarely affected normal citizens or companies , and that is no longer the case , he said . `` Because of the way the world is now connected through the Internet , a regular company can find itself in the middle of Cold War activity , which tells us that every company out there ought to think of security as one of their No.1 activities . Otherwise , they risk becoming a pawn between two governments having a silent battle against each other . '' The United States has its own powerful counterintelligence machine , and that should surprise no one , he said . `` If you have a country that knows how to use the power of the Internet and knows how to take advantage of counterintelligence activity through methods like hacking , they will certainly engage in it ; otherwise , they will be left behind and they well become sitting ducks . '' Asked about The Times ' allegations on Thursday , a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that `` all such alleged attacks are groundless , irresponsible accusations lacking solid proof or reliable research results . '' `` What else would you say ? '' asked Nigam rhetorically . `` Of course , you have to say that . If the U.S. government were accused of something similar , the public relations machine would also say the exact same things . '' China has been the victim of cyberattacks and `` has laws and regulations prohibiting such actions , '' the spokesman , Hong Lei , said at a regular news briefing . A separate statement from the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said the country 's military `` has never supported any hacker activities . '' On Thursday , it appeared that television censors in China were blacking out CNN 's reporting of the hacking story . Chinese authorities have blacked out the broadcast signal for international television stations such as CNN and the BBC when they have aired sensitive reports about the country .
`` You need to take some pretty extreme steps , '' ACLU expert says . Journalists tend to not be savvy about digital security , he says . Attorney : Cyberattacks from abroad are rarely prosecuted . Comment: