WASHINGTON. Dec 14 (Interfax) - The Russian embassy to the United States has responded to media reports alleging cyberattacks of hackers working for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service on the U.S. Department of the Treasury and an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
"We paid attention to another unfounded attempts of the U.S. media to blame Russia for hacker attacks on U.S. governmental bodies," the embassy said in a statement on Facebook.
"We declare responsibly: malicious activities in the information space contradicts the principles of the Russian foreign policy, national interests and our understanding of interstate relations. Russia does not conduct offensive operations in the cyber domain," the embassy said.
"What is more, the Russian Federation actively promotes bilateral and multilateral cyber security agreements," it said.
"In this regard, we would like to remind our American colleagues of the initiative put forward by President Vladimir Putin on September 25 on a comprehensive program of measures to restore Russian-U.S. cooperation in the field of international information security. [...] We have received no reply from Washington. Many our other suggestions to start constructive and equal dialogue with the U.S. remain unanswered," the embassy said.
A number of U.S. media outlets said that hackers associated with a foreign government had hacked into networks of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The media said that the group of hackers backed by a foreign government received access to networks of both entities and stole data.
The Washington Post put the blame on the hacker group APT29 or Cozy Bear, allegedly working for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.