Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the US accusations that Russia was involved in cyberattacks against the Finance Ministry and other US departments, after a large number of US government agencies were hacked and the finger of blame was pointed at Moscow.

Peskov said - in a press statement - that the Americans continue to press charges against the Russians in all acts that target them, recalling that on several occasions Moscow had offered Washington an initiative for joint cooperation in the face of electronic piracy, but it remained without attention on the American side.

Asked about Washington's discussion of the issue of closing its consulates in the Russian cities of Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok, Peskov considered that closing the two consulates is not important, since they stopped providing consular services and visas four years ago, and this decision could not harm the poor Russian-American relations, as he put it.

For its part, the Russian Embassy in the United States condemned the attempts of the American media to accuse Russia of launching electronic attacks on American government agencies, stressing that they are baseless, according to what the "Russia Today" channel reported, denouncing the inclusion of Moscow in the accusations of piracy.

"We have drawn our attention to recent unfounded attempts by the American media to accuse Russia of launching electronic piracy attacks on the US government devices," the embassy said in a statement on its Facebook page.

Russia has denied the accusations that it was involved in the piracy operation (Getty Images)

Urgent orientation

The US Agency for Information Security (CISA) issued an urgent directive to all federal institutions to cut off electrical power to all Solar Windows computers, against the background of information confirming the occurrence of a large-scale hacking and piracy campaign.

The "Wall Street Journal" newspaper said that computer systems in a large number of US government agencies have been exposed to hacking operations, which are believed to be part of a cyber espionage campaign behind the Russian intelligence.

The newspaper added that the hackers planted an electronic virus in one of the computers of the "Solar Windows" company, which specializes in managing networks.

Among its clients are highly sensitive federal departments, such as the Secret Service in charge of protecting the US president, the Pentagon (DOD), the Federal Reserve Bank, and Lockheed Martin for the military industries. And the National Security Agency (NSA).

The American "Fox News" channel said that the White House confirmed that the Treasury Department (USDT) had been subjected to a high-level cyber attack supported by a foreign government. The Washington Post reported that hackers belonging to the Russian government are responsible. For the attack on the Treasury and Commerce Ministries and government agencies.

The cyber attack on American institutions was described as dangerous (Al-Jazeera)

Dangerous attack

Reuters quoted an informed source that the cyber attack was so dangerous that it prompted members of the US National Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on Saturday at the White House, and the agency quoted council spokesman John Oliot as saying that the government was taking the necessary steps to address the issue.

The "Washington Post" added that the hackers succeeded in gaining access to the internal emails in the Treasury Department and a federal agency responsible for determining the Internet and communications policy, while the FBI is investigating the operation, which the newspaper said that its executors are working for the Russian foreign intelligence.

The newspaper pointed out that this group is also responsible for a cyber attack that the State Department and the White House suffered under former President Barack Obama, and the newspaper referred to a group called "APT29", which is also behind the attacks that targeted Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton 2016 year.

The piracy began last spring, according to a number of sources (Al-Jazeera)

Damages and warning

According to the Al-Jazeera correspondent from the White House, I found my endowment, that so far, the extent of the damage has not been determined, but American newspapers are talking about that the most important ministries may have been affected by the piracy operation.

The correspondent quoted some sources as saying that this piracy began last spring when the United States was busy fighting the Corona pandemic and preparing for the American elections, and it continued throughout this period without being investigated by the relevant agencies.

She pointed out that a week ago, the National Security Agency had warned that there were piracy operations targeting the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and regarding the reaction of the White House, adding that the existence of a piracy operation by a foreign country had been officially acknowledged, without naming it.

It indicated that those who mention the Russians by name are officials who do not want to reveal their names.