Russia says Hillary Clinton hacking claims are ‘unfounded’

The Kremlin has accused US presidential contender, Hillary Clinton, of making unfounded remarks by including Russia among countries she said were sponsoring hacking.

Clinton said that hacking was a threat to US security and business, and that Russia, North Korea, Iran and China had “directly or indirectly sponsored” hacking.

Asked about her comments, Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters: “This is an absolutely inappropriate statement and an unfounded accusation.”

“Hacking is an international problem, and speaking of government sponsorship is a completely unfounded accusation,” he said, describing the comments as “unconstructive” in the context of calls for cooperation in the fight against cyber-crime.

China has played down Clinton’s remarks about Beijing.

Clinton, a Democrat, said her worries started when, as US secretary of state, she heard businesses express concern that confidential information was being “vacuumed up through intrusive hacking”.

She has also said that the United States must be “much smarter” in how it deals with Russian president, Vladimir Putin, saying that there is no substitute for “constant engagement”.