Russia spends £250m every year employing 1,000 state-sponsored hackers to spy on and attack the West’s computer networks

VLADIMIR Putin has created a 1,000-strong army of state hackers who use an annual budget of £250 million to launch attacks on the West, it is claimed.

They are also believed to be operating in more than 100 countries in a devastating "information war" aimed at exerting Russian influence across the globe.

It comes as tensions between the US and Russia tumble after US agencies stated Putin had ordered hacks during the US election campaign to try and assist a Donald Trump victory.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied the accusations, though the new report suggests Russia's state-sponsored hacking places it within the top five most active countries carrying out cyber espionage.

A source told that the number of Russian hackers numbers about 1,000, and they operate with a massive £250 million budget.

According to a survey carried out by Zecurion Analytics, the website also reported that their role was to use "various means of influencing the mood and behaviour of a country's citizens".

Frighteningly, the company also warned Russia's dependence on cyber war "will only grow as a result of the increase of vulnerability of individuals and their gadgets".

Meanwhile, James Clapper, the US's director of national intelligence, is to face questioning on Capitol Hill about the report that fingered the Kremlin over presidential campaign hacking.

The declassified report explicitly tied Russian President Vladimir Putin to the hacking of email accounts of the Democratic National Committee and individual Democrats like Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta.

Russia also used state-funded propaganda and paid "trolls" to make nasty comments on social media services, the report said, although there was no suggestion such operations affected the actual vote count.

The US has also placed several more Russians on its sanctions blacklists as a response to the hacks.

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