US claims of Chinese hackers 'groundless'
Source: Agencies |
February 20, 2013, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ALLEGATIONS of Chinese hacker attacks are groundless, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Hong Lei had been asked to comment on a report by US security company Mandiant Corp stating it had traced cyber attacks waged against companies and government agencies in the United States to a unit of the People's Liberation Army.
"Groundless criticism is irresponsible and unprofessional, and it will not help to solve the problem," he said.
China had been a major victim of cyber attacks and opposed all forms of such activity, Hong said, adding that China had made and enforced laws banning such activity.
He cited a report released by China's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Coordination Center stating that 73,000 foreign IP addresses had been linked to attacks on 14 million Chinese computers.
He said the number of attacks originating in the US ranked at the top.
Hong said China, Russia and several other countries submitted an international code of conduct on information security to the United Nations in 2011.
"China has called on the international community to make a code of conduct for cyberspace on the basis of the submission and make joint efforts to build a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyberspace," he said.
Hong said the government also objected to allegations that hacker attacks had been traced to a building in Shanghai.
Hong said he did not know how such evidence could be discovered, as cyber attacks were often carried out internationally and typically anonymously.
Virginia-based Mandiant said it traced the hacking to a neighborhood on the outskirts of Shanghai that included a 12-story building run by "Unit 61398" of the People's Liberation Army.
The unit "has systematically stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations," Mandiant wrote.
"From our observations, it is one of the most prolific cyberespionage groups in terms of the sheer quantity of information stolen," the company said. It added that the unit has been in operation since at least 2006.
Mandiant said: "It is time to acknowledge the threat is originating in China."
Hong Lei had been asked to comment on a report by US security company Mandiant Corp stating it had traced cyber attacks waged against companies and government agencies in the United States to a unit of the People's Liberation Army.
"Groundless criticism is irresponsible and unprofessional, and it will not help to solve the problem," he said.
China had been a major victim of cyber attacks and opposed all forms of such activity, Hong said, adding that China had made and enforced laws banning such activity.
He cited a report released by China's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Coordination Center stating that 73,000 foreign IP addresses had been linked to attacks on 14 million Chinese computers.
He said the number of attacks originating in the US ranked at the top.
Hong said China, Russia and several other countries submitted an international code of conduct on information security to the United Nations in 2011.
"China has called on the international community to make a code of conduct for cyberspace on the basis of the submission and make joint efforts to build a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyberspace," he said.
Hong said the government also objected to allegations that hacker attacks had been traced to a building in Shanghai.
Hong said he did not know how such evidence could be discovered, as cyber attacks were often carried out internationally and typically anonymously.
Virginia-based Mandiant said it traced the hacking to a neighborhood on the outskirts of Shanghai that included a 12-story building run by "Unit 61398" of the People's Liberation Army.
The unit "has systematically stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations," Mandiant wrote.
"From our observations, it is one of the most prolific cyberespionage groups in terms of the sheer quantity of information stolen," the company said. It added that the unit has been in operation since at least 2006.
Mandiant said: "It is time to acknowledge the threat is originating in China."
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