MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia comes fifth after the United States, China, the United Kingdom and South Korea, the research, obtained by the Kommersant newspaper, indicated.
Zecurion used its estimates of so-called "cyber troops" used by each country, as well as the financing allocated to the relevant departments. The United States was first by far in terms of financing, spending some $7 billion each year on its cybersecurity capabilities. China spends just $1.5 billion, but employed an army of 20,000 computer experts. The United Kingdom and South Korea spend $450 million and $400 million respectively, while Russia spends $300 million and employs 1,000 cybersecurity specialists.
Zecurion said the cyber troops are engaged in spying, cyber attacks and information wars and aim to exert influence on the population of target countries.
The research comes amid the Democratic National Committee (DNC) hacking scandal in the United States. US intelligence has accused Russia of hacking DNC servers and leaking information compromising former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to WikiLeaks prior to US presidental elections in an effort to boost her opponent Donald Trump's chances of victory.
On Friday, US Intelligence released a public version of a comprehensive intelligence report assessing Russian activities and intentions related to the 2016 US presidential election. The report accused Russia of trying to influence the election. After being briefed on the report, Trump said the DNC hack did not have an impact on the election outcome.
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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