MOSCOW, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said there was a need to set up a system to protect computer systems in Russia from cyberattacks.
"In the near future, we need to set up a unified system for detecting, preventing and defending against computer attacks on Russia's information resources," he was quoted by Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti as saying.
Russian computer security company Kaspersky Lab last week detected the Red October malware trying to embed itself into the computer systems said to contain intelligence information.
Putin told the Federal Security Service that cyberdefense capabilities were needed to thwart repeated attempts to breach Russian computer networks.
"We need the most modern methods for organizing counterespionage activity, including the protection of secret information," he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled similar efforts this week. Cyberattacks have recently hijacked targets ranging from Iran's nuclear program to The New York Times.
"When neutralizing any kind of extremist structures, we should act as resolutely as possible and block attempts by radicals to use information technologies, Internet resources and social networks for their propaganda," Putin said.
