A spate of internet attacks that hit Google and other companies have been traced to two schools in China, according to reports — but Chinese sources have responded by denying knowledge of the strikes.
According to the New York Times, security experts investigating a string of hacking attacks on American companies have been linked back to their origins in mainland China.
The story, which quoted anonymous sources close to the investigation, said that the so-called Project Aurora attacks appeared to originate from Shanghai Jaio Tong University and the Lanxiang Vocational School in Shandong province.
Jaio Tong is well regarded as a centre for computer studies, and has an extensive information security programme that boasts its “high-level talent” and has links to military research projects.
Meanwhile Lanxiang, about 400km south of Beijing, is a prominent school that has developed some reputation for developing computer skills.
The report suggested that intelligence agents working on the case had linked the strikes to a specific class taught at Lanxiang.
While the Chinese authorities have not commented on the report, a female member of staff from Lanxiang told the Guardian that the school was not aware of the attacks on Google.
“We did not know Google was hacked before the New York Times contacted us — when they called, we told them we know nothing but they still made the story up,” she said. “Our students are middle school graduates, and we train them to use software like Photoshop. If our students are so skilled they can hack Google, then what are they here for?”
She also urged caution against drawing the conclusion that Chinese schools were training hackers to attack American targets.
“I hope the media can be cautious about this report,” she said. “We don’t want to worsen US-China relations or draw national attention.”
Google, which has continued investigating the source of the attacks since going public, did not respond to a request for comment.
It has been more than a month since the internet company revealed that it had been targeted in a series of strikes aimed at uncovering personal details of Chinese dissidents and stealing elements of its software.
At the time the company threatened to stop censoring its Chinese search engine in protest at the attacks, which it called “highly sophisticated”.
“This information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech,” said the company at the time. “These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China.”
The company has not yet acted on its threat to stop censoring its search results — a move which would likely result in its expulsion from the country — but has drawn support from the US government.
Google and a number other companies hit by the Aurora attacks have been investigating its origins, and have linked up with America’s National Security Agency as they attempt to pinpoint the culprits.
It is not the first time that such attacks have been attributed to Chinese hackers.
In 2007, investigators said they were tracking the activities of a notorious gang of Chinese hackers known as Titan Rain, linked to the military and responsible for raids against Western governments — including the US defence department, British Foreign Office and the Houses of Parliament.
And on Thursday it was revealed that another attack had struck about 75 000 computers worldwide in an attempt to steal sensitive personal and financial data. The so-called Kneber botnet — consisting of millions of PCs that had been infected with a piece of malicious software — struck nearly 2 500 companies and government agencies around the world.
Although the extent of the damage was not entirely clear, experts suggested that the strike — which is believed to have been in operation for over a year — was far broader than the targeted attack on Google and others.
“While Operation Aurora shed light on advanced threats from sponsored adversaries, the number of compromised companies and organisations pales in comparison to this single botnet,” said Amit Yoran of NetWitness. – guardian.co.uk