According to report by the BBC, the origins of the unusually numerous and high-profile attacks on US companies has been found. It is indeed coming from somewhere in China — Shanghai to be exact. But it doesn’t stop there.

According to Mandiant, a US-based cyber security firm, believes that there’s a secret branch in China’s military dedicated to cyber-theft and they’re located in the building pictured below:

It also doesn’t help that the BBC’s John Sudworth was detained while trying to film the alleged hub of the hacking operation. The sensitivity in the area only lends more fuel to the fire that this is indeed the right place.

The firm believes that the hacking group called the “Comment Crew” or PLA Unit 61398, have “systematically stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organisations around the world.” Mandiant is basing its allegations on over four years worth of data.

US Government officials have brought this to the attention of the Chinese government and they denied any role in the hacking incidents. They also criticize Mandiant’s report and call it “scientifically flawed” because “the report, in only relying on linking IP address to reach a conclusion the hacking attacks originated from China, lacks technical proof.”

They then go on to mention that China is also a victim of cyberattacks from the US, “but we don’t use this as a reason to criticize the United States.”

[via BBC, New York Times, The Verge, Mandiant, image via Philip Jägenstedt]