The announcement by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) that computers in their offices were hacked by China comes on the heels of similar reports in recent months.

US counterintelligence authorities and senior military officials have become increasingly concerned about evidence of hacking into military and government computers from inside China, where they say the attacks have been traced back to.

Wolf said “"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."

Continuing, Wolf stated “in subsequent meetings with House Information Resources and FBI officials, it was revealed that the outside sources responsible for this attack came from within the People's Republic of China. These cyber attacks permitted the source to probe our computers to evaluate our system's defenses, and to view and copy information. 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 reportedly was urged by administration officials not to talk about the matter. Similarly, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said national security officials have routinely downplayed the Chinese hacking threat because of the administration’s reluctance to confront China.

In an emailed statement Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI), Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity and Science and Technology, said "I have long said that cybersecurity is one of the most critical national security issues facing our nation. We rely on computers in every aspect of our lives, and security gaps in our networks could make us vulnerable to catastrophic economic and physical damage.

"As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity and Science and Technology, I have made it a top priority to strengthen the security of our government’s computer networks, including those used by House of Representatives. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that our federal government is educated and prepared at all levels to thwart cyber attacks and protect the integrity of our networks."

China denied Wolf and Smith’s claims, saying it wasn't capable of sophisticated cybercrime.

"Is there any evidence? ... Do we have such advanced technology? Even I don't believe it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.

There are few counterintelligence officials though who believe China’s claim that it doesn’t have the sophistry to carry out computer network hacking – hacks originating in China have demonstrably been identified in the past. Last year, officials in the US, Germany, and Britain confirmed government and military networks were hacked by the Chinese army.

In May, the National Journal published a lengthy report by Shane Harris stating that “computer hackers in China, including those working on behalf of the Chinese government and military, have penetrated deeply into the information systems of US companies and government agencies, stolen proprietary information from American executives in advance of their business meetings in China, and, in a few cases, gained access to electric power plants in the United States, possibly triggering two recent and widespread blackouts in Florida and the Northeast, according to US government officials and computer security experts.”

Harris reported that “one prominent expert told National Journal he believes that China’s People’s Liberation Army played a role in the power outages.

The recent report, “How to Counter Hacking From China," by the Korea Institute of Information Security and Cryptology, stated 54 percent of cyber-attacks on South Korean government websites and computer networks originate inside China.

Last week, China denied allegations that operatives secretly copied the contents of a US government laptop and then used the data to try to hack into Commerce Department computers.

Federal counterintelligence authorities continue to investigate the matter, which involved the copying of a laptop left unattended during a visit to China by Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez in December.

Soon thereafter there were three serious attempts to hack into Commerce Department computers.

Meanwhile, Rogers is urging the Intelligence Community to more seriously alert Americans planning on attending the Summer Olympics in Beijing to prepare for organized computer hacking.

Rogers said Chinese intelligence and military will attempt to eavesdrop or otherwise compromise laptop computers used by diplomats, security, or businesses.