The Sina Corp. Weibo microblog website is displayed on a computer in Beijing, China, on Dec. 16, 2011
The U.S. computer security company Symantec announced Tuesday that it has identified the network of highly-sophisticated hackers operating in China and responsible for some of the most high-profile cyber security incidents in recent years, Reuters reports.
In a 28-page report, Symantec blames the group, known as “Hidden Lynx,” for the string of incidents in 2009 known as Operation Aurora, in which dozens of companies were hacked, most notably Google. Hackers attempted to read the Gmail communications of human rights activists.
Symantec was unable to link Hidden Lynx to the Chinese government, but says the infrastructure employed in the group’s attacks is based in China and the software used was written using Chinese tools and Chinese code. Beijing has strongly denied any involvement in the spate of cyber-espionage incidents emanating from China of late.