China has cybersecurity concerns

• Tweet

BEIJING, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- The Chinese military has been the target of cyberattacks in the last year that may have originated in the United States, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei disputed a report from U.S. cybersecurity company Mandiant, which said Tuesday that the Chinese military may be behind some cyberattacks on U.S. computer systems.

The official Xinhua news agency stated that "about 73,000 overseas IP addresses controlled more than 14 million computers in China and 32,000 IP addresses remotely controlled 38,000 Chinese websites." The spokesman said the Chinese military was one of the primary victims.

Geng Yangsheng, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, said Wednesday that Beijing has laws in place that are meant to protect against cyber crimes.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the government was taking a strong stance on threats posed by cyber intrusions.

"We've also regularly and repeatedly raised our concerns at the highest level with the Chinese government about cyber theft, including with senior Chinese officials and the military," she said. "We'll continue to do that."

She brushed off allegations that the United States was engaged in a cyberwar with China.