Chinese state media stepped up the war of words Thursday over allegations of sophisticated cyberattacks on U.S. firms, branding the accusations a "commercial stunt" and accusing Washington of ulterior motives.

American Internet security firm Mandiant earlier this week said that a Chinese military cyberspy unit is targeting U.S. and other foreign firms and organisations with hacking attacks.

Friday, February 22 (this Friday!)

AltCity, Hamra, 7:30 PM

Hackers referencing hip-hop acts took over U.S. automaker Jeep's Twitter account Tuesday in an attack not unlike one the day before that targeted fast food chain Burger King.

"The official Twitter handle for the Jeep® -- Just Empty Every Pocket," read the revised profile at @Jeep that claimed the Chrysler division had been sold to General Motors' luxury brand Cadillac.

Apple on Tuesday said it suffered a cyber attack similar to the one recently carried out against Facebook, but that it repelled the invaders before its data was plundered.

The maker of iPhones, iPads, iPods, and Macintosh computers said it is working with law enforcement officials to hunt down the hackers, who appeared tied to a series of recent cyber attacks on U.S. technology firms.

Sony is expected to reveal its vision of the future of home entertainment on Wednesday by providing a glimpse at a new-generation PlayStation console that streams games, films, music and more.

"Sony needs a big hit with this game console," said Forrester analyst James McQuivey.

French videogame maker Ubisoft on Tuesday began selling computer games made by Electronic Arts, Warner Brothers and other rivals at its online Uplay shop.

California-based Electronic Arts, in turn, added Ubisoft hits including "Assassin's Creed III" and "Far Cry 3" to its Origin network for play as the companies ramped up their challenge to Valve Corporation's Steam service.

Microsoft is so confident it has the Internet's best email service that it's about spend at least $30 million to send its message across the U.S.

The barrage begins Tuesday when Microsoft's twist on email, Outlook.com, escalates an assault on rival services from Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., AOL Inc. and a long list of Internet service providers.

Burger King sustained a virtual Big Mac attack Monday when its Twitter account was hacked then redesigned with a bogus claim of a corporate takeover by McDonald's.

Its @BurgerKing account briefly sported the McDonald's golden arches logo, a curt statement that Burger King "just got sold to McDonald's" and tweets promoting Chicago rapper Chief Keef before it was abruptly suspended.

China's army controls some of the most prolific hackers in the world, according to a new report Tuesday by an Internet security firm that traced a host of cyberattacks to an anonymous building in Shanghai.

Mandiant said its hundreds of investigations over the past three years showed that groups hacking into U.S. newspapers, government agencies, and companies "are based primarily in China and that the Chinese government is aware of them."

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Tuesday launched a range of giant Internet-enabled televisions as part of a strategy to cement its lead in slowing global markets by focusing on premium models.

The 16 new "smart TV" models, which come in sizes ranging from 46 to 75 inches, allow users to navigate the Internet, offer specialized apps such as video games and recognize various spoken queries and hand motions.