Speaking at an event commemorating 100 years since the founding of the SVR foreign intelligence service, Putin said the agency and other security services were a crucial guarantee of Russia's "sovereign, democratic, independent development." Some international cyber researchers have suggested that Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service may have been behind an unprecedented attack on US government computer systems first reported by Reuters last week. Putin told attendees of the event, which also marked the Day of the Security Services Worker, that it was important to continue developing the work of counterintelligence agencies. "I know what I'm talking about here," Putin, a former KGB agent, said, in comments shared on the Kremlin website. He also told members of the agency to pay particular attention to risks posed by conflicts "simmering" near the country's borders.

Source: bd News24 December 20, 2020 13:18 UTC