'Chinese hackers' stole secret MH370 data from Malaysia

Chinese hackers stole classified information from Malaysian officials involved in the search for MH370 a day after the plane disappeared, it has been claimed.

Government departments received e-mails with a virus attached disguised as a hoax news report claiming the Malaysian Airlines jet had been found.

When officials opened the attachment, the virus immediately began extracting sensitive data and sending it to a computer in China, according to sources.

It was also claimed on Tuesday that the pilot deliberately switched off passengers' oxygen supply before ditching into the sea.

But the hacking attack came at a time when Malaysian officials leading the search were coming under fire – particularly by the Chinese – for not releasing crucial information.

The virus was discovered by CyberSecurity Malaysia – a Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation agency - which blocked the transmissions and shut down infected machines.

But by then around 30 computers in the Department of Civil Aviation, the National Security Council and Malaysia Airlines had been infected and an unknown amount of information stolen, a source said.

CyberSecurity Malaysia chief executive Dr Amirudin Abdul Wahab told the Malaysia Star: "We received reports from the administrators of the agencies telling us that their network was congested with e-mail going out of their servers.

"Those e-mails contained confidential data from the officials' computers, including the minutes of meetings and classified documents. Some of these were related to the MH370 investigation.

"This was well-crafted malware that anti-virus programs couldn't detect. It was a very sophisticated attack."

The breach was traced to a computer on a network in China, but no further details have been given.

 Interpol are reportedly involved in the investigation.

Flight MH370 mysteriously vanished while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.

Despite extensive searches, there has been no sign since of the aircraft or the 239 people onboard.

Reports of the hack come as Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said a new underwater hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 had a "reasonable chance" of finding the plane.

It is believed to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean far off the west coast of Australia, but a air and sea search failed to find any wreckage.

"They are now going to search the entire probable impact zone which is, from memory, something like 60,000 square kilometres (23,000 square miles) of the ocean floor, off the coast of Western Australia," Abbott told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"If the plane is down there, and the best expert advice is that it did go into the water somewhere in this arc off the coast of Western Australia.

"If the plane is down there, there is a reasonable chance that we'll find it because we are using the best possible technology."

-The Mirror