LONDON – Britain on Thursday accused the Russian military of being behindlast year’s “NotPetya” cyber-attack, which started in Ukraine and Russiabefore spreading globally, affecting thousands of computers.

“The UK Government judges that the Russian Government, specifically theRussian military, was responsible for the destructive NotPetya cyber-attackof June 2017,” Foreign Office minister Tariq Ahmad said in a rare directrebuke.

The ransomware attack contaminated thousands of computers worldwide,particularly affecting multinational companies and critical infrastructure,such as radiation monitors at the old Chernobyl nuclear power plant and theports of Mumbai and Amsterdam.

Companies hit included the Russian oil group Rosneft, Danish shippingcompany Maersk, US pharmaceutical giant Merck, French constructionspecialist Saint-Gobain and the British advertising firm WPP.

Ukraine was the worst-affected country, with banking operations compromisedin what authorities said was an unprecedented attack.

“The attack masqueraded as a criminal enterprise but its purpose wasprincipally to disrupt,” said the British government.

“The UK and its allies will not tolerate malicious cyber activity,” itadded.

London has taken an aggressive stance against Moscow, with Prime MinisterTheresa May last year accusing it of “seeking to weaponise information” andcondemning “the illegal annexation of Crimea”.

British army chief Nick Carter later said that Russian cyber-warfarepresented a direct threat to Britain and called for more investment in thearmed forces to be able to deal with it.

Minister Ahmad said the Kremlin had “positioned Russia in direct oppositionto the West”, but that the country could still “be the responsible memberof the international community that it claims to be rather than secretlytrying to undermine it”. -APP / AFP