China fury at 'cyber spy' claim
Wednesday, 05 Dec 2007 10:06
The letter allegedly said the cyber attacks were able to beat traditional protection methods.
The Chinese government has responded angrily to a report in the Times newspaper which claimed Chinese agencies were guilty of 'cyber spying'.
An article published on Saturday claimed the director general of intelligence agency MI5 had contacted 300 executives at British banking, accounting and legal firms, warning them that Chinese agencies were hacking into their data systems.
The newspaper said a letter sent by Jonathan Evans had reportedly advised recipients on how to identity Chinese 'Trojans' and had stressed that companies involved in business transactions with Chinese institutions were particularly vulnerable to hacking.
But the Chinese foreign ministry has lodged a formal protest in response to the report, labelling it slanderous.
A spokesman said yesterday: "The Chinese government has always opposed any internet crimes, including hacking which is an international problem."
Qin Gang added at a Beijing press conference: "We express strong dissatisfaction. It is a very irresponsible act."
The Times reported that a summary of Mr Evans' warning letter could be seen on a secure government website, recognising the economic importance of trading with Chinese firms, but impressing the apparent risks involved.
British security agencies believe the alleged hackers could have ties to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) but are based outside China and controlled by other organisations.
But Andrew Yang, the secretary-general of the Taiwan-based Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies told the Times: "Information warfare in China is mostly conducted by the private sector so it is difficult to identify who is really behind this."