Britain is at risk from Chinese internet attacks

China was today accused of cyber attacks on Britain on the day the Olympics opened in Beijing.

E-espionage was identified by the Government as one of the two most likely risks facing the UK, the other being a repeat of the 7 July bomb attacks on the transport network.

Cabinet minister Ed Miliband published a landmark national risk register which highlighted the dangers posed to Britain by foreign states - including China and Russia - as well as terrorist groups, natural disasters and major accidents.

"The UK does remain subject to high levels of covert non-military activity by foreign intelligence organisations," it said.

"They are increasingly combining traditional intelligence methods with new and sophisticated technical attacks, for example attempting to penetrate computer networks through the internet." Sources stressed that Chinese and Russian intelligence agents are believed to be targeting the UK in e-attacks.

The Cabinet Office document also highlighted the extent of and the expertise involved in cyber spying.

"IT systems in government departments and various organisations, including elements of the national infrastructure, have been and continue to be attacked to obtain the sensitive information they hold.

"Some of these attacks are well planned and well executed."

MPs, government departments and private firms were recently warned to take security precautions in the face of the growing number of cyber attacks. Jonathan Evans, the director general of MI5, wrote to 300 chief executives and security chiefs at banks, legal firms and accountancy businesses last December warning of the risk from Chinese e-espionage.

China issued a furious denial that it was engaged in such practices.

The risk register also found that a f lu pandemic, which could kill between 50,000 and 750,000 people, was the deadliest threat and the fifth most likely facing the UK, ahead of flooding on a scale that would be a national disaster. Up to half the population, 30 million, could be infected in a massive flu outbreak.

Families were urged to take a series of precautions to prepare for a major threat by stockpiling bottled food, water, a battery-run radio, a torch and having a back-up way of heating.

They should make back-ups of key documents stored on a computer, make arrangements for alternative journeys which are vital, such as getting to work or school, if the public transport system is not working, and prepare how to stay in contact with family in an emergency.

A terror attack on a crowded place was the third most likely danger. Some 2,000 people in the UK are being tracked by MI5 and police as terror suspects and about 30 plots are being investigated.