Canada foreign minister protests to China over hacking attempt

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird protested to his Chinese counterpart on Tuesday about what he said was an attempt by China-sponsored hackers to break into a key computer system in Ottawa, a government official said. Baird had "a full and frank exchange of views" with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting in Beijing, spokesman Adam Hodge said. "The government takes this issue very seriously and we are addressing it at the highest levels in both Beijing and Ottawa," he added. Canada said "a highly sophisticated Chinese state-sponsored actor" recently broke into computers at the National Research Council, the Canadian government's leading research and technology organization. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Galloway)