China cyber attack claim 'groundless': ministry

China's Ministry of National Defense on Thursday slammed a recent Western media report on the Chinese military's alleged involvement in a cyber attack on a US-based website, calling it "groundless."

"China firmly opposes any type of cyber attack and punishes such crimes in accordance with the law. The Chinese military has never been involved in any hacking activity to steal business secrets," the ministry told the Global Times on Thursday.

The ministry's remarks came in response to a Financial Times report on Wednesday, which said that the FBI is looking into whether the Chinese military was involved in a cyber attack on register.com. The website manages more than 2.5 million domain names of businesses worldwide and also provides web management and design services.

Cyber attacks are a universal problem and China is also facing serious online threats, the ministry stressed. "China is one of the major victims of cyber attack," the ministry noted.

"The U.S. should explain its large-scale and organized cyber spying and phone tapping activities to the international community as soon as possible, rather than making irresponsible accusations," the ministry added.

According to the Financial Times, the hackers have gained access to register.com's network for about a year, but the attack did not disrupt or result in the theft of client data.

An FBI spokesperson said she was not familiar with the probe and that the agency does not comment on such matters, Reuters reported.