LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- Nearly 1,300 computers in more than 100 countries have been attacked and have become part of a computer espionage network apparently based in China , security experts alleged in two reports Sunday . The network was discovered after computers at the Dalai Lama 's office were hacked , researchers say . Computers -- including machines at NATO , governments and embassies -- are infected with software that lets attackers gain complete control of them , according to the reports . One was issued by the University of Toronto 's Munk Centre for International Studies in conjunction with the Ottawa , Canada-based think tank The SecDev Group ; the second came from the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory . Researchers have dubbed the network GhostNet . The network can not only search a computer but see and hear the people using it , according to the Canadian report . `` GhostNet is capable of taking full control of infected computers , including searching and downloading specific files , and covertly operating attached devices , including microphones and web cameras , '' the report says . The discovery of GhostNet grew out of suspicions that the office of the Dalai Lama had been hacked . His staff sent a foreign diplomat an e-mail invitation to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader , but before the Dalai Lama 's people could follow up with a phone call , `` the diplomat 's office was contacted by the Chinese government and warned not to go ahead with the meeting , '' according to the Cambridge report . Watch CNN 's John Vause report on the network » . An investigation resulted in both reports . Both found links to computers in China , but the researchers did not conclude who they thought was behind the `` malware , '' or malicious software . `` Chinese cyber espionage is a major global concern ... [ b ] ut attributing all Chinese malware to deliberate or targeted intelligence gathering operations by the Chinese state is wrong and misleading , '' according to the Canadian report titled , `` Tracking GhostNet : Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network . '' `` The sheer number of young digital natives online can more than account for the increase in Chinese malware , '' it adds . But the report also points out that China is among a handful of countries , including the United States , Israel and United Kingdom , that are `` assumed '' to have considerable computer espionage capabilities . Attempts by CNN to contact the Chinese government in Beijing and its American embassy and consulate offices were unsuccessful on Sunday , as the offices were closed . However , a spokesman for the Chinese consulate in New York dismissed the idea China was involved when speaking to The New York Times . `` These are old stories and they are nonsense , '' Wenqi Gao told the Times . `` The Chinese government is opposed to and strictly forbids any cyber crime . '' Hackers gained access to computers in the Dalai Lama 's office by tricking computer users into downloading e-mail attachments that had been carefully engineered to appear safe , according to the authors of the Cambridge report , titled , `` The Snooping Dragon : Social-malware Surveillance of the Tibetan Movement . '' `` The attackers took the trouble to write e-mails that appeared to come from fellow Tibetans and indeed from co-workers , '' according to the report , authored by Shishir Nagaraja and Ross Anderson . Once the attackers gained an initial foothold , `` they also stole mail in transit and replaced the attachments with toxic ones , '' the report adds . The Dalai Lama investigation led to the discovery of hundreds more infected machines in locations from The Associated Press in Britain and Deloitte and Touche in New York , to the ministries of foreign affairs in Indonesia , Iran and the Philippines . The office of the prime minister of Laos was also snared , as was a single non-secure computer at NATO , according to the Canadian report . Infected computers `` checked in '' with control servers as early as May 2007 and as recently as March 12 of this year , the report adds . Attempts by CNN to verify the reports ' allegations with NATO , the Laotian government and the Dalai Lama 's organization in India were not immediately successful on Sunday . The attack has broader implications , Nagaraja and Anderson warn , since a single person could carry out a similar one . `` Even a capable motivated individual could have carried out the attacks we describe here , '' they say . The computer systems of businesses are almost certain to be hacked by similar means , if they have not been already , the experts claim . `` Social malware will be used for fraud , and the typical company really has no defense against it , '' since it is so expensive and inconvenient , for example , to keep sensitive information or processes on computers with no Internet access . `` We expect that many crooks will get rich before effective countermeasures are widely deployed . '' The Information Warfare Monitor Web site , where the Canadian report was released , was down Sunday afternoon . GhostNet is not affiliated with GhostNet Inc. , a business technology company .
Researchers : Dalai Lama 's office , Cambridge , governments among targets . Network , dubbed `` Tracking GhostNet : , '' can take control of computers , search files . Researchers link network to New York , but do n't conclude who is responsible . Investigation finds more than 100 of infected machines in hundreds countries .