The Chinese government is sponsoring cyber-espionage to attack top U.S. companies , according to Grady Summers , vice president of security firm Mandiant . Virginia-based Mandiant published a 60-page report detailing allegations over a six-year period against a group of hackers -- known as Comment Crew -- which Summers linked to a secret division of the Chinese military . Summers told CNN : `` China is attacking the U.S. on a scale like we 've never seen before ... We believe that the Communist Party of China is very aware of this . '' Read more : Have the courage to deal with cyber war . Mandiant says the activity can be traced to four networks near Shanghai -- with some operations taking place in a location that is also the headquarters of Unit 61398 , the secret military division . Summers added : `` Never before have we seen one state-sponsored entity like unit 61398 of the Chinese PLA attacking helpless commercial organizations in other countries . '' Read more : Chinese cyber attacks on West are widespread , experts say . The espionage group mainly targeted U.S. blue chip companies in 20 separate industries from aerospace to financial services . `` It 's really a who 's who of American companies . Of 140 victims worldwide , 115 of them were in the U.S. , '' Grady said . Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei dismissed the hacking charges on Tuesday , insisting that China is the victim of many cyberattacks -- most originating in the United States . `` Making baseless accusations based on premature analysis is irresponsible and unprofessional , '' he said . `` China resolutely opposes any form of hacking activities . '' Earlier this month , President Obama signed an executive order designed to address the country 's most basic cybersecurity needs -- and highlighted the effort in his State of the Union address . Summers says a cyber offence by the U.S. is not an appropriate response to the attacks as `` it creates more problems than it solves . '' Instead , he advocates better defense systems in organizations that are vulnerable to cyber attacks and diplomatic pressure from Washington on Beijing . The Mandiant report details 3,000 technical indicators including IP addresses , domain names and encryption certificates , that can be used to strengthen companies ' defenses .
Mandiant say thousands of cyber attacks have come from thousands neighborhood near Shanghai . The espionage group mainly targeted U.S. blue chip companies in thousands separate industries . Beijng says diplomatic pressure is needed on Mandiant VP Grady Summers from U.S. .