View source for Mandiant: China is sponsoring cyber-espionage

(CNN) -- The Chinese government is sponsoring cyber-espionage to attack top U.S. companies, according to Grady Summers, vice president of security firm Mandiant.<br />Virginia-based Mandiant published a 60-page report detailing allegations over a six-year period against a group of hackers -- known as Comment Crew -- which Summers linked to a secret division of the Chinese military.<br />Summers told CNN: "China is attacking the U.S. on a scale like we've never seen before... We believe that the Communist Party of China is very aware of this."<br />Read more: Have the courage to deal with cyber war<br />Mandiant says the activity can be traced to four networks near Shanghai -- with some operations taking place in a location that is also the headquarters of Unit 61398, the secret military division.<br /> Cracking down on Chinese hackers Firm: Many hackers attacking from China Report: Chinese Army behind cyber attacks U.S. cyber battle with China<br />Summers added: "Never before have we seen one state-sponsored entity like unit 61398 of the Chinese PLA attacking helpless commercial organizations in other countries."<br />Read more: Chinese cyber attacks on West are widespread, experts say<br />The espionage group mainly targeted U.S. blue chip companies in 20 separate industries from aerospace to financial services.<br />"It's really a who's who of American companies. Of 140 victims worldwide, 115 of them were in the U.S.," Grady said.<br />Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei dismissed the hacking charges on Tuesday, insisting that China is the victim of many cyberattacks -- most originating in the United States.<br />"Making baseless accusations based on premature analysis is irresponsible and unprofessional," he said. "China resolutely opposes any form of hacking activities."<br />Earlier this month, President Obama signed an executive order designed to address the country's most basic cybersecurity needs -- and highlighted the effort in his State of the Union address.<br />Summers says a cyber offence by the U.S. is not an appropriate response to the attacks as "it creates more problems than it solves."<br />Instead, he advocates better defense systems in organizations that are vulnerable to cyber attacks and diplomatic pressure from Washington on Beijing.<br />The Mandiant report details 3,000 technical indicators including IP addresses, domain names and encryption certificates, that can be used to strengthen companies' defenses.<br />[http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/19/business/china-cyber-attack-mandiant/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5 source]