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Russian security chief: Fake news on cyberattacks used to undermine state sovereignty

Acts of information aggression on part of some countries pose a particular threat to global security, the head of the Russian Security Council stresses
Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev Mikhail Japaridze/TASS
Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev
© Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Those willing to violate other countries’ sovereignty, have been using fake news on cyberattacks as a tool, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said on Wednesday at the Moscow Conference on International Security.

"Fact manipulation and information falsification have become a hallmark of those who dare to violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries," he said. "The same forces seek to preserve their unilateral advantage as far as controlling the global information infrastructure goes. Besides, they have been opposing attempts to create a global information security system under the United Nations auspices that would take into consideration the national interests of all countries."

Acts of information aggression on part of some countries pose a particular threat to global security, the Russian Security Council secretary added. He pointed to the growing need to ensure all countries’ equal rights in the cyber security field as well as to the need to establish an international legal mechanism for preventing conflicts in the information sphere, and draw up universal rules of responsible behavior of states under the UN auspices.

Universal convention on combating cybercrimes

 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia is promoting an initiative in the UN to develop a universal legal convention on combating cybercrimes. 

"We are promoting the initiative in the UN to develop a universal criminal law convention on countering crime in cyberspace," he said.

It is important to adopt the rules of responsible conduct of the states in the field of using information and communication technologies, the Russian Foreign Minister said.

"Such rules would rule out the use of information and communication technologies for military purposes, for interference in internal affairs and prevent their use by international terrorists," he said.

Equal cyber security

Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said NATO is seeking the cyber security of only its member states while Russia stands for the cyber security of all the countries.

"NATO is seeking to ensure cyber security for only a narrow circle of the alliance’s member states," Patrushev said at the Moscow conference on international security.

"Meanwhile, Russia stands for equal security for all the states," he noted.

Other international structures are also dealing with the issues of cyber security along with NATO, Patrushev said.

Information aggression acts by some countries pose a special threat to international security, he noted.

The need for ensuring equal rights in the sphere of cyber security is increasing along with the need to create an international and legal regime for preventing conflicts in the information space and elaborating universal rules of the states’ responsible behavior in this sphere under the UN aegis, the secretary of the Russian Security Council said.