A report from a government-run online security group in China claims that

A report from a government-run online security group in China claims that there has been a “massive increase” in cyber attacks from “foreign hackers”.

It was released by China’s National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team and Coordination Centre, state-run media said.

It said cyber attacks affected 8.9m computers in 2011, up from 5m in 2010.

China is often accused of cyber attacks on foreign government agencies and firms. Beijing routinely denies this.

A recent report from a US congressional panel said that China’s cyber warfare skills could pose a threat to the United States military.

According to Monday’s report from the CNCERT, 11,851 foreign internet protocol (IP) addresses had controlled 10,593 Chinese websites in 2011. It said Japan was the top source of attacks, followed by the US and South Korea.

The report also claims that the cyber attacks were aimed at online banking users.

Source www.bbc.uk