“Intel is the latest U.S. corporation to acknowledge that it was hacked in January in a sophisticated attack that occurred at the same time that Google, Adobe and others were targeted.

The giant California-based chip maker was rumored to have been among some 34 companies that were targeted, but said on Tuesday there was no evidence to tie its hack to the attack on Google and others.

“Recent cyber attacks on Google are a ‘wake-up call’ and neither the U.S. government nor the private sector can fully protect the American cyber infrastructure, the director of U.S. national intelligence said on Tuesday.

‘Malicious cyber activity is occurring on an unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication,’ Dennis Blair said in prepared testimony for a Senate intelligence committee hearing.

“At least three US oil companies were the target of a series of previously undisclosed cyberattacks that may have originated in China and that experts say highlight a new level of sophistication in the growing global war of Internet espionage.

The oil and gas industry breaches, the mere existence of which has been a closely guarded secret of oil companies and federal authorities, were focused on one of the crown jewels of the industry: valuable ‘bid data’ detailing the quantity, value, and location of oil discoveries worldwide, sources familiar with the attacks say and documents obtained by the Monitor show.”