China denies it's behind GhostNet

China says a recent report that says a recent report that says China hosts a massive botnet that has compromised computers in 103 countries is nothing but a pack of lies. InfoWorld reports this statement:

"Some people in foreign countries are keen to make up rumors about so-called Chinese Internet spies," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a briefing Tuesday. "Their statements are entirely fabricated."

But the report, from SecDevGroup and the University of Toronto, stopped short of accusing the Chinese government. In fact, it specifically said that the fact that the botnet was chiefly controlled Chinese computers didn't mean that it was operated by the Chinese government.

I'm afraid China doesn't have a lot of credibility when it denies any and all Internet spying. We all know all major nations engage in the practice. Still, James Fallows of the Atlantic doesn't buy the government operation angle.

For reasons the Toronto report lays out, the episode looks more like the effort of groups of clever young hackers than a concentrated project of the People Liberation Army cyberwar division.