The Ministry of National Defense and China Military Online websites were hacked from overseas on average 144,000 times a month in 2012, according to China's defense ministry.

Hackers mainly based in the United States attacked two Chinese military websites an average of 144,000 times a month last year, ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said at a news briefing.[Photo/mod.gov.cn]

Some 62 percent of the attacks came from the US, ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said at a news briefing , adding that the number of hacking assaults on military websites "has risen steadily in recent years."

He did not specify any entities from which the alleged attacks originated.

China Military Online is a People's Liberation Army news website.

A report from US security firm Mandiant had said a unit of the People's Liberation Army had stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations, mostly based in the US.

China's defense ministry said the report had "no factual basis."

Geng called on US officials to "explain and clarify" recent US media reports that Washington would carry out "pre-emptive" cyber attacks and expand its online warfare capabilities. Such efforts are "not conducive to the joint efforts of the international community to enhance network security," he said.

Geng said China's military forces were working hard to push "informatization," but there's a long way to go. "At present, China's military has no cyber warfare units," Geng said.

(Shanghai Daily contributed to this story)

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