FBI seeks out victims of recent industrial espionage hack

The FBI has warned US businesses that hackers it believes to be backed by the Chinese government have recently launched attacks on US companies.

The "flash" warning described tools and techniques used by the hackers and asked companies to contact federal authorities if they believe they are the victims of such attacks.

The document said that the agency recently obtained information regarding "a group of Chinese government affiliated cyber actors who routinely steal high-value information from US commercial and government networks through cyber espionage."

FBI spokesman Josh Campbell confirmed via email that the FBI had released the document, which was obtained by Reuters and described specific mitigation steps that companies should take following attacks.

"The FBI has recently observed online intrusions that we attribute to Chinese government affiliated actors," he said. 

"Private sector security firms have also identified similar intrusions and have released defensive information related to those intrusions."

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to an email inquiry about the matter.