China blamed for global hacking spree

More than 70 organisations around the world, including governments, the United Nations and multi-national companies, have been systematically hacked by one state over the past five years, according to security experts.

The list of victims in the extended campaign include the governments of the United States, Taiwan, India, South Korea, Vietnam and Canada and an array of companies, from defence contractors to high-tech enterprises. Computer security company McAfee, which uncovered the intrusions, said it believed there was one "state actor" behind the attacks but declined to name it, though several other security experts said the evidence points to China.

"Even we were taken aback by the audacity of the perpetrators," McAfee's vice president of threat research, Dmitri Alperovitch, said.