CHEBOKSARY, June 14. /TASS/. Foreign intelligence and other special services have stepped up their activities against Russia in cyber space, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said on Tuesday.

"It is noted that intelligence and other special services of foreign countries have stepped up their activities directed at inflicting damage to the interests of the Russian Federation in the informational sphere," Patrushev said at the session in Cheboksary.

"Over 188 million unauthorized actions on informational resources of federal and local authorities" were registered last year in the Volga Federal District, he noted. "This is twice as much as in 2013," the official stressed.

Patrushev noted that "widespread use (by Russian authorities) of foreign informational technologies, programs and telecommunications equipment creates preconditions for information leaks, lowers the level of ensuring informational security - up to the threat of stopping technological processes and remote blocking of infrastructure of state authorities."

He reminded that different agencies use informational systems to process data "of economic, foreign policy, defense nature, as well as personal information of citizens." At the same time, inspections show multiple violations of norms and regulations of information protection.

 The use of foreign IT services

Patrushev added that the use of foreign IT services by officials poses a risk of information leaks and a remote halt of work of Russian state bodies.

"The overall use of foreign information technologies, programs and telecommunication equipment creates preconditions for the information leak, downgrades the level of ensuring information security up to a threat of halt of technological process and remote blocking of infrastructure of state bodies," Patrushev said.