Russia to get cyber troops

By the end of this year, Russia’s armed forces will get a new service branch responsible for information security.

Officers serving in the branch will be required to have a linguistic background. President Vladimir Putin believes that the “firepower” of information attacks could be higher than that of conventional weapons.

President Vladimir Putin stated on Friday, July 5, that it was necessary to counter cyber threats effectively. “We have to be prepared to counter threats in cyberspace effectively, to improve the level of protection of the relevant infrastructure—above all, information systems of strategic and mission-critical facilities,” the head of state told a Security Council meeting dedicated to improving Russia’s military organization through 2020.

Putin reminded his audience that “information attacks” were already being used to achieve military and political goals. He also noted that their “firepower” could be higher than that of conventional weapons.

SOURCE: rbth.ru