U.S. investigators have zeroed in on an Asian group, probably Chinese, who hacked into Google and 33 other US companies in December.
Google first reported of the “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” in January saying the incidents took place in December.
No sooner the investigators revealed the electronic infiltration techniques of a prominent Asian hacking group and New York Times identified two Chinese schools as the origin of the online attacks, the schools denied any role in the crime.
The schools named are Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School in eastern China’s Shandong province.
Chinese news agency, Xinhua quoted a Jiaotong spokesman as saying that the New York Times report was “based simply on an IP address”, suggesting that it was not enough to prove its involvement.
Li Zixiang, party chief at Lanxiang, dismissed the report’s suggestion of involvement of a “specific computer science class” taught by a Ukrainian professor. Investigators have said the hacking methods were similar to previous attacks indicating, but not confirming, involvement of the same or similar individual or groups.
Google had said that the cyber attacks originated in China and their target was dissidents’ Gmail accounts.
It isn’t clear whether the hacking group has any connections to the Chinese government or could be a so-called patriotic hacking group that acts in the government’s interests.
China’s government has rejected any connection to the attacks.