A new report accuses the Chinese government of extensive cyber crime.
The Virginia-based Mandiant Corporation presents evidence that the Chinese military stole massive amounts of data from military contractors, energy companies and other American industries.
The report claims the hacking came from a neighborhood outside of Shanghai, reports the Associated Press. Within the neighborhood is a 12-story office building run by "Unit 613988" of the People's Liberation Army, a unit to which the Mandiant findings have linked the hacking.
This unit "has systematically stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations," the report claims. For comparison, the United States Library of Congress archived 170 billion tweets from 2006-2010 in an archive that totals 133.2 terabytes. If the report is even close to accurate, the Chinese have stolen a ton of our data.
"From our observations, it is one of the most prolific cyberespionage groups in terms of the sheer quantity of information stolen," the report says. "It is time to acknowledge the threat is originating in China, and we wanted to do our part to arm and prepare security professionals to combat that threat effectively."
"The Chinese government has always firmly combated such activities and the Chinese military has never supported any form of hacking activity," the Chinese Defense Ministry said in a fax to the AP. "Statements to the effect that the Chinese military takes part in Internet attacks are unprofessional and are not in accordance with the facts."
"To make groundless accusations based on some rough material is neither responsible nor professional," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a news conference. Instead, Hong described China as a victim in cyber crime, not on the side of the hackers. "As of now, the cyberattacks and cybercrimes China has suffered are rising rapidly every year.
"None of us would be very surprised or be uncomfortable saying we strongly suspect the Chinese authorities are involved in spying this way," Graham Cluley, a British cybersecurity expert told the Associated Press. "I think we are seeing a steady escalation. This is really the new era of cybercrime. We've moved from kids in their bedroom and financially motivated crime to state-sponsored cybercrime, which is interested in stealing secrets and getting military or commercial advantage."
