The Chinese government is conducting a man-in-the-middle attack on Apple's iCloud data, according to a report from anti-censorship watchdog GreatFire.org.

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"This is clearly a malicious attack on Apple in an effort to gain access to usernames and passwords and consequently all data stored on iCloud, such as iMessages, photos, contacts," GreatFire said.

A man-in-the-middle attack (MITM) is a form of eavesdropping in which the attacker relays messages between two targets. This leads the victims to believe that they are communicating directly to each other over a private connection, when in reality their conversation is controlled by the attacker.

The group said that this attack was different from recent ones against Google and Yahoo in that it is done across the entire country, and coincides with the launch of the newest iPhone.

"If users ignored the security warning and clicked through to the Apple site and entered their username and password, this information has now been compromised by the Chinese authorities," said the report.

GreatFire says that users in China can help protect themselves by first using a trusted browser for both mobile and desktop devices, pointing out that Chrome and Firefox prevent users from using iCloud.com if they are trying to access a site that is under an MITM attack.

Qihoo's Chinese 360 secure browser, however, is "anything but" safe, said the GreatFire, and will load the page directly.

The watchdog group also said that this attack could be related to Apple's increased security aspects the new iPhone.

This MITM attack may indicate that there is at least some conflict between the Chinese authorities and Apple over some of the features on the new phone."

TagsiCloud, man in the middle attack, Data, Watchdog, attack, China accused of attack on iCloud, Apple's iCloud attacked by China, China Accued of Wiretapping, China accused, Breaking Baden, China-backed hackers