MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. Cyberthreats being voiced against Russia, including information about the potential disconnection of Russia from the SWIFT international payments system, go beyond ordinary actions and represent an issue of national security, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for International Cybersecurity Cooperation, Director of the Foreign Ministry’s International Security Department Andrey Krutskikh said at the Ninth All-Russia Congress of Political Scientists hosted by the Moscow State Institute of International Relations on Thursday.

"When we face threats of being disconnected from SWIFT, from financial flows, those not being on the scale of ordinary actions, this is also an issue of national security. In other words, this technology has involved certain issues in the questions of war and peace probably for the first time in recent years," he said.

As of today, many areas of social and technological development are "in the thrall of hacker activities," which is worrisome, Krutskikh added, urging political analysts to intensify the exploration of this problem in this respect.

"It is necessary for political analysts to delve into the issue now, which they are doing already in a move to understand from a political and political science perspective how to get out of this situation. Otherwise humanity will destroy itself in line with the predictions of our great forefathers. And there exists no better mechanism and method of doing it than through information and communication technologies," he noted.

Earlier, a number of American media outlets mentioned possible measures of the White House on Russia in the event of ‘aggression’ against Ukraine, citing sources. Among them was the possible unplugging of Russia from SWIFT, the international interbank system of transferring information and making payments.