China Hacking Foiled by U.S. Private-Sector Counterattack

A coalition of technology companies says it has disrupted a hacking campaign linked to Chinese intelligence, demonstrating for the first time a private-sector model that they believe can move faster than investigations by law enforcement agencies.

The hackers have used tools found in some of the most sophisticated spying operations linked to China, including a 2010 attack on Google Inc. and the theft of some of the U.S.’s most valuable technology. Malicious code used by the hackers has been removed from 43,000 computers worldwide since Oct. 14, according to a report the coalition released today.