The nation famous for clubbing helpless harp seals with baseball bats is apparently quacking it its boots over attacks from Chinese hackers.

Canada's top research body has taken steps to tighten security on its computer network, days after the government accused state-backed Chinese hackers of breaking into the system. Canada has declined to give details of the attack on the National Research Council, but it took the unprecedented step of pinning the blame on China. Normally governments are slow to blame China because it tends to hack them off by having to publish a stiffly worked denial. 

Sure enough this time Beijing accused Canada of making irresponsible accusations lacking any credible evidence. Probably because it knows its hackers did not sign their work. However the National Research Council case, the Canadians seemed jolly miffed. The council works with firms such as aircraft and train maker Bombardier.

The research body did not say what data, if any, had been nicked but said it had isolated its "information holdings" and redesigned its security protocols. It also plans to build a new technology infrastructure to help guard against "the risk of future cyber threats of this nature."