China denies latest hacking claims

BEIJING, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Claims China was looking to hack into U.S. defense networks to steal drone technology are "groundless," a Chinese government spokesman said Tuesday.

Darien Kindlund, manager of threat assessment at network security company FireEye, told The New York Times the Chinese targeting of defense contractors was the "largest campaign" of its kind.

The U.S. newspaper report, published Friday, said computer hackers based in Shanghai targeted at least 20 defense contractors tied to U.S. drone technology. Kindlund said the cyberattack aligns "pretty well" with Chinese ambitions for drone capabilities.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Tuesday there was no validity to the claims.

"We have taken notice of relevant reports," he was quoted as saying by China's official Xinhua News Agency. "These reports are groundless and inconducive to the cooperation between China and the United States to promote cybersecurity."

PCWorld said in an August report Chinese hackers, dubbed the Comment Crew, were targeting organizations opposed to Chinese government policies. The Comment Crew was described in a February report from U.S. security company Mandiant, which tied cyberattacks to the Chinese military.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said China and the United States are addressing cybersecurity issues jointly at the working group level.