U.S. Congressmen Allege China Hacked Computers

U.S. Republican Congressmen Frank Wolf and Christopher Smith told a press conference at Congress on Wednesday that Chinese hackers caused huge losses to them for two years from 2006.

Wolf, who has been at the forefront of lambasting China for human rights abuses, said, “Data on dissidents worldwide have been hacked. I was informed by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials that the attack was made in China.”

Smith also argued that his computer was infected with viruses that allowed hackers to control his computer remotely in December 2006 and in March 2007, and that a government investigation found the attack was made through Chinese IP addresses.

Though there is no concrete evidence to show China’s involvement, circumstantial evidence suggests that China orchestrated the malicious attacks, said Smith. “Other Congressmen’s computers can be affected as well,” he stressed.

Wolf submitted a resolution urging the government to pay more attention to information security and asked a hearing to deal with this issue.

The resolution demands that the security authorities educate congressmen who frequently go abroad on business trips how to keep their computers and cell phones away from hackers and thieves.

An official of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee also claimed on the same day that the committee’s laptop was compromised by hackers working in China.

In the meantime, the FBI is probing the allegation that China illegally copied data in a computer belong to the U.S. administration when U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and his aides visited China for trade negotiations last December.

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