Capitol computers hacked by Chinese

What started as an investigation into whether or not Chinese officials secretly copied the contents of a government laptop computer during a visit to China, turned into hacking accusations by Rep. Frank Wolf and Rep. Christopher H. Smith. Both house members claim that six computers were compromised by Chinese hackers from a period of 2006 to 2007.

Rep. Frank Wolf and Rep. Christopher H. Smith, both critical of Beijing's human-rights policy, claimed that the hacked computers held information on political dissidents from around the world. Wolf claims that four of his computers were cracked starting in 2006, and Smith said two of his computers were compromised in December of 2006 and March of 2007.

"...in August 2006, four of the computers in my personal office were compromised by an outside source. This source first hacked into the computer of my foreign policy and human rights staff person, then the computers of my chief of staff, my legislative director, and my judiciary staff person. On these computers was information about all of the casework I have done on behalf of political dissidents and human rights activists around the world," Wolf said in his address in the House.

Now if this wasn't enough, conspiracy lovers will enjoy the fact that Wolf was apparently discouraged from reporting the incidents. "The problem has been that no one wants to talk about this issue," he said according to the AP. "Every time I've started to do something I've been told 'You can't do this.' A lot of people have made it very, very difficult." Apparently Wolf was told by the FBI that computers of other House members were accessed by sources in China as well. The FBI has no comment for the media.

Remember, according to Wolf, the first computer hacked belonged to a staffer who works on human rights, and that others included machines used by Wolf's chief of staff Dan Scandling. Scandling told the AP, "They knew which ones to get... It was a very sophisticated operation," he said. "The FBI verified that it had been done."

"My suspicion is that I was targeted by Chinese sources because of my long history of speaking out about China's abysmal human rights record," Wolf said.

So according to Wolf, the FBI confirms the attacks. Yet, the FBI had no comment and did not confirm the attacks to the press. Oddly, while investigating a supposed cloning of data during a trip to china, where there is little proof and was not doing so well, these allegations spring up. While not denying that the espionage happened, because it could have, this seems more of a case of "We don't like China" than serious computer security incident.

What is China's response? "Is there any evidence? ... Do we have such advanced technology? Even I don't believe it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regularly scheduled news conference. "I'd like to urge some people in the U.S. not to be paranoid," Qin said. "They should do more to contribute to mutual understanding, trust and friendship between the U.S. and China."