Intel, Like Google, Victim Of 'Sophisticated' January Attack

Intel revealed in its latest 10-K Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it had been the target of a "sophisticated incident [that] occurred in January 2010 around the same time as the recently publicized security incident reported by Google."

Rumors circulated last month that the chip giant was one of the 34 companies targeted in a highly publicized malware attack in an effort to steal intellectual property and other sensitive corporate data from numerous firms.

However, Intel executives said that there was no evidence indicating its most recent attack was linked to the attack that compromised the Google networks last month.

However, Intel spokespeople fell short of commenting on whether its networks were compromised by the same attack.

Google said in January that it too had been the target of a "highly sophisticated" cyber attack that infiltrated its network and exposed data. Google fingered China as the source of the attack, claiming that hackers lifted intellectual property as well as the Gmail accounts of human rights activists. Google immediately threatened to pull its business out of China, but has since reconsidered the move.

Intel declined to comment on what information was taken, who was behind the attacks, or where the attacks originated. Instead, the chip maker downplayed the incident, contending that timing of the incident was coincidental and simply one of many attacks that targeted its networks.

"The only connection is timing," said an Intel spokesperson, according to Reuters.