China refutes India’s hacking charges

National Security Advisor M K Narayanan's reported comments that Chinese hackers may be involved in a December 15 attempt to penetrate Indian government computers, including that of his office, have caused a diplomatic storm.

Reacting strongly to the charge, China on January 19 promptly dismissed it as "groundless". Narayanan’s charge published in The Times of London, came a week after American internet giant Google leveled a similar allegation against it.

"I can say that these accusations are groundless," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told reporters in Beijing. "The Chinese government is firmly against hacking activities and will deal with relevant cases in accordance with the law," Ma said. He also claimed that China itself was the "biggest victim" of hacking activities.

Narayanan told the British newspaper that his office and other government departments were targeted on December 15, the same date when Google reported cyber attacks originating from China. He said the attack came in the form of an e-mail with a PDF attachment containing 'Trojan' virus which allows a hacker to access a computer remotely and download or delete files.

"People seem to be fairly sure it was the Chinese. It is difficult to find the exact source but this is the main suspicion. It seems well founded," he was quoted as saying. This was not the first instance of an attempt to hack into our computers,” He added India was cooperating with the US to bolster its cyber defences.

Chinese hackers, who are widely believed to be working on behalf of Beijing, have a record of carrying out repeated attacks against governments around the world including the US, Taiwan,

Japan and Ger-many. China seems to see this as a means to test its cyber attack capabilities.

The December 15 attacks led Google to issue a warning that it would shut down its Chinese operations. Google had uncovered hacking attempts into e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

Narayanan also told The Times that while he expected China to be an increasing security priority, the main threat for India still came from Pakistan-based militants.

Narayanan has also expressed apprehension that Pakistan-based militants may try to disrupt the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi this year to claim that "India is not a safe place". "We believe Pakistan's policy of using terror as a policy weapon remains," he was quoted as saying by The Times. India is particularly anxious to prevent a militant attack from disrupting the Commonwealth Games in October, the report said.

"From Pakistan's point of view, it's important to disrupt the Games so you can claim that India is not a safe place," Narayanan said, according to the daily. He said that Pakistan had done nothing to dismantle militant groups since the Mumbai attacks, and criticised Britain, in particular, for accepting its excuse that such groups were beyond its control. "The British are still blinkered on this," he added.

Narayanan has been just relieved from the office of NSA, and appointed Governor of West Bengal. His comments on the terror threat to the Commonwealth Games in October this year, to be held in New Delhi, runs counter to repeated assurances from Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who has told the participating countries that adequate security would be ensured to the players at the venue and where they stay during the Games.

- Asian Tribune -