Chinese hackers were successful in gaining access to a U.S. intelligence database, according to reports.

The Washington Post Monday confirmed an initial story by the  online security website C/O in late April.

The Chinese apparently were able to to learn more about whom the feds approved spying on for foreign communications and about American targets and their contacts with foreign suspects approximately three years ago.

The quantity and quality of information data gathered by the Chinese hackers isn’t known, but U.S. officials admitted to the newspaper that important information was swiped.

The Chinese may well have been able to feed Americans false intelligence based on what they learned from ‘Operation Aurora’, which the case has been dubbed. Additionally, Chinese operatives could have gained advantage by learning whether or not U.S. spies knew of their whereabouts.

Some U.S. officials are upset it took three years for the intelligence failure to come to light, while others question the viability of wiretapping systems, which the Chinese hackers apparently worked through.

“This is why wiretapping systems are a bad idea,” tweeted Matthew Green, a cryptography researcher and professor at Johns Hopkins University, according to Mashable. “Not because they can’t be built securely; because they won’t be.”

This development may call into question the FBI’s push for access to online communications. Some are questioning whether the government should be able to tap into online chats.

Google and Microsoft were two of the reported targets of the Chinese hackers. Neither Google or the FBI would comment to the newspaper about the breach, which the company first reported in 2010.

Microsoft now denies its servers were compromised under Operation Aurora, during which about 20 companies were under the watchful eye of the Chinese as part of their cyberespionage campaign.

Some analysts consider the Chinese’ supposedly successful spying campaign against the U.S. as a major reason it has gained so much wealth in recent years. The Chinese’ great gains in defense, technology and energy are credited by many to be a result of the nation’s ability to steal data.

The Chinese vigorously deny U.S. claims of their spying, and say the reverse is actually true. They blame America for trying to tap into its servers in an effort to gain an intelligence edge.

Google’s troubles reportedly began in late 2009, when the Chinese created a false link an employee clicked on. That set off a malicious program that wreaked havoc on the company’s servers for about a year.