China breaks hacker network paid to delete negative posts

WUHAN -- Chinese police have busted a national network of nearly 2,000 people who were paid to scrub articles from websites that clients, including local officials, disapproved of.

Police in Qichun county, Hubei province, said Wednesday the ring hacked blogs and online forums or colluded with site administrators to remove unfavorable content.

The ring conducted business under the name "Crisis PR" and earned a total of 50 million yuan ($8 million).

The ring's customers included companies, officials and ordinary citizens. A file found in a confiscated computer revealed they had deleted 52 posts for a county party secretary in Shanxi province, with charges of 300 to 2,000 yuan for each removal.

Qichun police said they were tipped off about the case last year and have so far arrested ten suspects. The hunt for other suspects is under way.