Shots Fired

TITAN RAIN

Years: 2003-2007

Alleged source: China

Fallout: In 2004, U.S. federal investigators discovered an ongoing series of attacks penetrating the networks of the departments of Defense, State, Energy, and Homeland Security, as well as those of defense contractors, and downloading terabytes of data. The investigators were able to trace the cyberspying ring -- which they code-named "Titan Rain" back to computers in Guangdong, China. While the Chinese military is widely believed to have been involved in the attacks, Beijing has consistently denied responsibility. It was reported in 2007 that attacks believed to be connected to Titan Rain had also targeted the British Foreign Office.

SHADY RAT

Years: 2006-present

Target: Dozens

Alleged source: China

Fallout: In 2011, McAfee reported the existence of a five-year-old hacking campaign it calls Shady RAT. It works by sending an email to an employee of a targeted organization, who then installs a "Trojan horse" on the computer after clicking an innocuous-looking attachment. The 49 victims include the International Olympic Committee, the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, companies in Japan, Switzerland, Britain, Indonesia, Denmark, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, and India, and the governments of United States, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Canada. At least 13 U.S. defense contractors were also hit. The list of targets has led many analysts to suspect Chinese involvement. It has been called the biggest cyberattack of all time.

THE ESTONIA ATTACKS

Year: 2007

Alleged source: Russia

Fallout: One of the most devastating attacks ever unleashed on a country, the Estonia attack followed the controversial decision to remove a Soviet war memorial in central Tallinn, the capital. The operation was a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack, which involves using remotely commandeered computers -- collectively known as a botnet -- to overwhelm a targeted web server, taking it offline. The attacks took down the websites of Estonia's major banks, government websites, and news portals. At the peak of the crisis, bank cards and mobile phones were inoperable within the country. The Russian government has denied responsibility for the attack, but a State Duma deputy from the ruling United Russia party made an offhand remark to a journalist two years later saying that one of his staff members had been involved in the attack.

THE AUGUST WAR

Year: 2008

Alleged source: Russia

Fallout: During the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war, key Georgian websites, including the pages of President Mikheil Saakashvili, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Defense, as well as numerous corporate and media sites, were taken down by cyberattacks. At one point the Parliament's site was replaced with photos comparing Saakashvili to Hitler. Georgian officials have blamed a cybercriminal group known as the Russian Business Network for the attacks. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev denied government involvement.

GHOSTNET

Years: 2009-present

Alleged source: China

Fallout: In 2009, Canadian researchers discovered a massive electronic spying network that had infiltrated 1,295 computers in 103 countries. The researchers were acting on a request from the Dalai Lama's office to see whether his personal network had been infiltrated -- it had. Ministries of foreign affairs and embassies in Iran, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Thailand, Germany, and Pakistan were also affected. The Chinese government denied involvement.

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