The latest cyberattacks from China mark the first known case in which Google has seen its defences penetrated so comprehensively, forcing the world's biggest internet company on to the back foot in an attempt to limit the damage.

Google confirmed yesterday its security had failed to keep out attacks aimed at its main infrastructure, which had led both to the theft of some of the company's own intellectual property as well as details of two Gmail accounts.

These attacks were more serious than other related infiltration attempts made by planting malicious software, also known as malware, on users' computers or by tricking them to gain access – the methods most commonly used by cybercriminals and spies.