US Justice Department officials plan to bring criminal charges against hackers, governments, and companies involved in nation-sponsored computer intrusions on US companies, according to a published report.

"I'll give you a prediction," John Carlin, the principal deputy assistant attorney general in the national security division of the Department of Justice, told a DefenseNews reporter. "Now that we are having people look at bringing one of these cases, it's there to be brought and you'll see a case brought."

More than 100 prosecutors are being trained to participate in the new initiative, which is being organized by a little-noticed program known as the national security cyber specialist network. Prosecutors plan to work with agents in the FBI to find additional cases to bring. Prosecutors could possibly call on investigators in the National Security Agency, the Department of Defense, and other agencies for additional help.

Hackers sponsored, or at least tolerated, by the Chinese government have been blamed for computer espionage attacks over the past five years that are alleged to have siphoned gigabytes worth of sensitive data from US defense contractors and companies in the software, pharmaceutical, and energy industries. One of the more recently reported intrusions reportedly hit Telvent Canada Ltd., a large supplier of computerized control systems for companies in the energy, transportation, and other industries. Researchers have tied Chinese hackers to espionage campaigns on scores of other companies and agencies, including RSA and the Pentagon.

State-sponsored attempts to access classified and proprietary US information grew 75 percent during the fiscal 2010 and 2011, according to a separate report.

According to DefenseNews, there are a variety of targets US prosecutors could indict. Most obviously, the targets include the hackers themselves, but Carlin also said the governments they work for or the companies using stolen intellectual property could also be charged.