According to the New York Times, recent hacks on Google and other American corporations, that may even push Google out of China, have been traced to a top Chinese university, as well as a school with ties to the Chinese military.

Attributing the information to unnamed people involved in the investigation, the newspaper reported that security investigators have traced the hacking to computers at Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School in China.

Google did not respond to requests for comment.

It was revealed by the company on Jan. 12 that hackers had stolen some of its computer code and tried to break into the accounts of human rights activists opposed to China's policies. According to security experts, the sophisticated hack attack also targeted computers of more than 30 other companies. It is believed that a security weakness in Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer Web browser had created an opening for the hackers to infiltrate the systems.

According to the Times' story, Jiaotong University boasts of one of China's top computer science programs. “Lanxiang is a large vocational school that trains some computer scientists for the Chinese military”, read the Times article.

The Times further reported, “The spokesmen for the two schools said that they hadn't heard U. S. investigators had implicated them in the attacks”.