Russian government hit by major cyber attack

Russian government bodies have been hit by a “professional” cyber-attack, the country's intelligence service says.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) said that a "cyber-spying virus" was found in the networks of about 20 entities, including state organisations, scientific and defence companies, and the “country’s critically important infrastructures”.

The malware allowed the hackers to switch on cameras and microphones within the computer, take screenshots and track what was being typed by monitoring keyboard strokes.

The FSB did not say who it believed was responsible for hacking Russian networks, but said the latest hack had been “planned and made professionally” and that it resembled "much-spoken-about" cyber-spying.

The report comes as Russia stands accused over data breaches involving the Democratic Party in the US. Emails hacked from the Democratic National Committee, later distributed by the Wikileaks organisation, showed that party officials had been biased against Bernie Sanders in his primary race against Hillary Clinton.

US officials believe the cyber attacks were committed by Russian agents, but the Kremlin has vehemently denied responsibility and has denounced the “poisonous anti-Russian” rhetoric coming out of Washington.

Clinton’s campaign said on Friday that an analytics data program, which it shared with other entities, had been accessed by hackers. However, her press secretary Nick Merrill insisted that ther was "no evidence that our internal systems have been compromised".