The UK Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, publicly accused officials in Moscow for running the NotPetya ransomware attack in June 2017. Stating that Russia is almost certainly behind the attack, Williamson commented that 'Russia is ripping up the rule book by undermining democracy, wrecking livelihoods by targeting critical infrastructure, and weaponizing information'. As reported in the Independant, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office stated that the public attribution 'underlines the fact that the UK and its allies will not tolerate malicious cyber activity'. The US government has joined the UK in attributing the NotPetya ransomware attack to Russia. The White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, stated that the ransomware operation 'was part of the Kremlin's ongoing effort to destabilise Ukraine and demonstrates ever more clearly Russia's involvement in the ongoing conflict,' reports the Guardian. Russia promptly and categorically denied the accusations. Kremlin spokesman , Dmitry Peskov, said to Reuters that the allegations were groundless and part of a 'Russophobic' campaign being conducted by some Western countries.