Canada hit by cyber attack from China PCs: CBC

OTTAWA, CANADA: The Canadian government was hit by an unprecedented cyber attack from Chinese-based computers last month that penetrated two key economic ministries, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported on Wednesday.

The CBC cited sources as saying the hackers were able to access computer systems at the Finance Department and Treasury Board. Once the attack was detected, Internet access in both ministries was cut off.

A spokesman for Treasury Board Minister Stockwell Day said officials had detected an unauthorized attempt to access the ministry's computer networks.

"There are no indications that any data relating to Canadians was compromised," he said in an e-mail. He did not say whether the attacks had been traced back to Chinese servers, as the CBC reported.

Canada's spy service complains regularly about what it says is industrial espionage by China and other states.