:: Deepquest ::

Web sites in China are being used as a staging ground for attacks on computer networks in the U.S. Defense Department and other agencies, according to news reports.

No classified systems have been compromised but officials were concerned that data pulled together from different agencies could become useful intelligence to an adversary, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The newspaper cited four government officials who spoke separately about the intrusions, which were said to go back two or three years. The FBI had launched an investigation, the newspaper said.

“It’s not just the Defense Department but a wide variety of networks that have been hit,” including the departments of State, Energy, and Homeland Security as well as defense contractors, one official was quoted as saying.

“This is an ongoing, organized attempt to siphon off information from our unclassified systems.” the official added.

All of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, the Post said.

The report said U.S. analysts were divided over whether the attacks were a coordinated effort by the Chinese government to penetrate U.S. government databanks or whether it was the work of other hackers using Chinese networks to hide the origin of the intrusions.
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