In March last year Canadian researchers discovered a spy network containing more than 1, 300 computers, many of them in China, that had got into governments’ systems.

If China's satellites and spies were working properly, there would have been a flood of unsettling intelligence flowing into the Beijing headquarters of the Chinese navy last week.

The PatriotApp links your phone to American security and law enforcement agencies via the Internet and allows you to report anything you want at the touch of a button.

Cyber-security analysts say computer problems in the main Tibetan exile community in India led to the uncovering of a vast global internet espionage network, apparently originating in China.

But, despite the excitement about the case, members of the alleged Russian spy ring did not seem to have accomplished anything.