McAfee uncovers intellectual property hacking campaign

A claim was made by McAfee Inc., as officials for the company said that they had uncovered an international hacking campaign. The alleged incident involved one government that had spied on and committed cyber attacks against the networks of 72 other governments and corporations over the past five years, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The operation, dubbed "Shady Rat" by the Santa Clara-based technology security firm, noted that American companies were the main targets, according to the news source.

Although the company refused to finger the nation that it had thought was guilty of the crimes, McAfee officials noted that there was only one involved company. The intellectual property of these American companies was taken illegally, and more incidents could be uncovered, the Times reported.

Many analysts around the technology industry have pointed to China, a country that was not among the reported victims. The Asian superpower has been known for its lack of enforcement for many similar cases, according to Sci-Tech Today.

Companies that are worried about possible repetition of this type of patent theft may want to consider investing in an intellectual property exchange.