The Senator said that though there are international

agreements to govern criminal activity and war, no mechanism has been put in place to prevent this increasingly dangerous national and economic security threat. According to the report, 'APT1: Exposing One of China's Cyber Espionage Units' by an American computer security firm Mandiant, a unit of the Chinese army operating through thousands of personnel from a 12-storied building in Shanghai is behind an overwhelming majority of cyber-attacks in the United States. "Our research and observations indicate that the Communist Party of China (CPC) is tasking the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) to commit systematic cyber espionage and data theft against organisations around the world," alleged the report. "Our analysis has led us to conclude that APT1 (Advanced Persistent Threat) is likely government-sponsored and one of the most persistent of China's cyber threat actors," it said. According to the report, APT1 is able to wage such a long-running and extensive cyber espionage campaign in large part because it receives direct government support. "In seeking to identify the organisation behind this activity, our research found that People's Liberation Army (PLA's) Unit 61398 is similar to APT1 in its mission, capabilities, and resources. PLA Unit 61398 is also located in precisely the same area from which APT1 activity appears to originate," said the executive summary of the 60-page report that released yesterday.