When Internet security firm Mandiant issued a report in February accusing a so-called Shanghai-based People's Liberation Army Unit 61398 of hacking into the computers of a wide range of US industries, congressmen, government officials, intelligence officers and a largely unquestioned news media in the United States immediately jumped on the bandwagon railing against China.

No one listened when the Chinese government denied the allegations and claimed that China itself has long been a major victim of cyberattacks, many of which originated from the US.

A story by Adam Taylor of New York-based Business Insider on Feb 19 was largely ignored in the US when the author, through his interviews with many Internet security experts, pointed out the many flaws in the Mandiant report.