Chinese cyber plot #1

The researchers found some 1,295 infected computers in 103 countries, including one machine in Canada, though its location couldn't be pinpointed.

Of those infected machines, the researchers consider about 30 per cent to be "high-value" targets, such as computers in ministries, embassies, news networks and non-governmental organizations.

The compromised computers included, among many others, the ministry of foreign affairs of Iran; the embassies of India, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Portugal, Germany and Pakistan; the ASEAN Secretariat; the Asian Development Bank; news organizations and an unclassified computer located at NATO headquarters.

In particular, the investigation finds that computers belonging to Tibetan organizations were manually targeted and compromised to an unprecedented degree, giving those behind the malicious infection significant access to sensitive information from within the Tibetan community.

The report cited evidence that the Dalai Lama's private office computers had been the subject of attacks.

"The most obvious explanation, and certainly the one in which the circumstantial evidence tilts the strongest, would be that this set of high profile targets has been exploited by the Chinese state for military and strategic-intelligence purposes," the report states.

However the researchers stop short of directly implicating Beijing, saying they cannot confirm the Chinese government is behind the attack.

Chinese authorities have already denied any allegations of wrongdoing and have dubbed the report "nonsense."

Yet remember how recently I warned you of another computer threat that may have Chinese fingerprints on it.