Computer security firm alleges attackers made co-ordinated intrusions into systems of five major oil and gas firms
A man linked to claims of a China-based intrusion into computer systems of energy multinationals has said "several hundred" hackers used his company's server services.
The computer security firm McAfee has alleged that attackers made "co-ordinated, covert and targeted" intrusions into the systems of five major oil and gas firms to steal proprietary information.
The company's chief technical officer George Kurtz wrote in a blogpost: "We have strong evidence suggesting that the attackers were based in China. The tools, techniques, and network activities used in these attacks originate primarily in China. These tools are widely available on the Chinese web forums and tend to be used extensively by Chinese hacker groups."
Overseas governments and international companies have indicated growing concern about cyber-attacks apparently originating from China recently.
In a report,McAfee says the hackers could be traced back to China via a server leasing company in Shandong province that hosted the malware, and to Beijing IP addresses that were active during Chinese office hours.
It did not identify those it thought responsible for the hacking, and Dmitri Alperovitch, vice-president for threat research, told Reuters: "We have no evidence that this is government-sponsored in any way."
Although the report did not identify individuals, several US news stories said McAfee had identified Song Zhiyue, a salesman for a Shandong firm, as apparently providing the servers used by the hackers. Song told the Associated Press he had heard of Chinese hackers attacking US oil firms but declined to comment on McAfee's report.
"Our company alone has a great number of hackers [as customers]," he said. "I have several hundred of them among all my customers."
The term hacking is used in various ways and can cover legal as well as illegal activity. McAfee said it would not name the companies that had been attacked, as some were its clients. It added that seven others had been accessed.
Reuters said the three largest US-based oil companies – Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips – declined to comment, saying they did not discuss security measures as a matter of policy.
McAfee said the attacks, which it dubbed "Night Dragon", began two to four years ago and used relatively simple methods. They accessed computers either via the companies' websites or through malware sent to executives.
"These were not sophisticated attacks ... yet they were very successful in achieving their goals," said Alperovitch.
He told Reuters they had focused on financial data related to oil and gasfield exploration and bidding contracts. He also claimed they had copied proprietary industrial processes.
"That information is tremendously sensitive and would be worth a huge amount of money to competitors," Alperovitch added.
Ma Zhaoxu, spokesman for China's foreign ministry, said he did not know of the case. "I really have no grasp of this situation, but we frequently hear about these types of reports," he said.
Chinese state media have argued that China is one of the main targets for hackers and say the country has strict laws against hacking. Critics say little action appears to have been taken against offenders.
The issue was highlighted last year when Google moved its search service to Hong Kong after alleging China-based intrusions into its systems had targeted human rights activists. It said more than 100 other companies had been attacked.
McAfee, which has an interest in publicising security threats, given that it sells products to combat them, said it had provided the data to the FBI.
The FBI said it was aware of cyber threats but could not comment on the specific allegations.