Attackers used GhostNet to steal documents from targets including international institutions and foreign ministries of other countries, according to the report. The attackers gained full access to affected computers, including control of attached microphones and Web cams that could have been used to monitor nearby activity.

The report drew attention to cybercrime in China Wholesale at a time when observers say it is growing. GhostNet’s highly targeted attacks against foreign government networks are unique, but its scale is tiny and its malware code outdated compared to other recent attacks, analysts say.

“The incident of attacks on the U.S. electrical grid from China and Russia simply does not exist,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters, according to a transcript of the briefing.

“We hope the concerned media will cautiously handle groundless statements and especially critiques against China.”

A simple online search can reveal the source code for GhostNet’s unsophisticated malicious software, said Zhao Wei, CEO of Knownsec, a Beijing security firm. Much more advanced — and more common in China — are mass attacks with “zero days,” or previously unknown software bugs, Zhao said.

Sophisticated attacks can hit millions of computers. Researchers at Zhao’s firm found 4 million computers infected in a single day during one recent attack.

China had 298 million Internet users at the end of last year, the most in any country, according to the country’s domain registry center.

Bank accounts and online game passwords are popular targets for attackers in China. Items like armor and weapons stolen from game accounts are often sold back to other players for real-world cash.

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