MOSCOW (Sputnik) — He stressed there was a big risk of cyber attacks on French civil infrastructure, as well as on democratic principles and media, referring to a cyber attack on TV5Monde station in 2015.
"We should not be naive [thinking France could not face a cyber attack]… The number of cyber attacks against my ministry doubles every year. In 2016, about 24,000 external attacks had been blocked by our security services," Le Drian said in an interview with French weekly Journal du Dimanche, adding that all those attacks failed.
The minister said that France should be able to protect itself from cyber attacks and be ready to strike itself if necessary.
Le Drian highlighted that the number of cybersecurity specialists would be doubled by 2019, reaching 2,600.
As regards Russia's alleged involvement in the US presidential election, the French minister said that "if it had really been manipulated, it would be an unbearable interference" because targeting the electoral process means "attacking country's democratic foundations and sovereignty."
The report alleges that Russia employed a state run propaganda machine including domestic media, RT and the Sputnik news agency, to serve "as a platform for Kremlin messaging to Russian and international audiences." According to an annex to the report, RT America TV is Kremlin’s tool in undermining faith in the US government. The report does not provide any evidence that the alleged propaganda campaign had an effect on US voters or specific election results.
Russia has repeatedly denied the US allegations calling them absurd and characterizing them as an attempt to divert public opinion from revelations of corruption as well as other pressing domestic issues.
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