Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the plenary session of the International Cybersecurity Congress in Moscow on July 6, 2018. (Photo: Kremlin)

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the international community Friday to jointly fight against cyber threats.

"We understand it well that the scale of cyber threats today is such that they can only be neutralized by joint efforts of the whole of the international community," Putin said in an address to the International Cybersecurity Congress in Moscow.

He said that it is especially important to formulate "common rules of the game" and adopt common international standards, which would as much as possible take into account the rights and interests of all states and would be universal and acceptable to all.

Putin also said that the selfishness of particular countries has damaged global information stability.

By contrast, he cited the coordinated efforts of Russia and the European Union, which have protected the personal data of citizens and prevented their transfer to other countries, as a positive example.

Putin said that Russia has advanced a series of initiatives on the rules of responsible behavior of states in the sphere of information, on legal methods of resisting cybercrimes, as well as on the international regulation of the Internet.

"We intend to consistently promote these initiatives, primarily on the platform of the United Nations, the most authoritative and influential international organization," he said.

Putin said that Russia, like other states, was suffering from cyber attacks on its resources, with the number of such attacks having increased by one third in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.

To neutralize such attacks and to guarantee cybersecurity in general, it is necessary to coordinate efforts of law enforcement bodies, business circles, public organizations and citizens, Putin said.