China hacks into defence systems

Turning the tables on a China-based computer espionage gang, Canadian and United States computer security researchers have monitored a spying operation for eight months, observing while the intruders pilfered classified and restricted documents from the highest levels of India’s defence ministry.

In a report on Monday, the researchers, based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, provide an account of how a spy operation it called the Shadow Network hacked into computers in government offices on several continents.

The spy hunters were able to see some of the documents, including classified assessments about security in several Indian states, and confidential embassy documents about India’s relationships in West Africa and Russia.

The defence ministry spokesman, Mr Sitanshu Kar, said officials were “looking into” the report.