MOSCOW - The Russian authorities deny allegations from Microsoft that hackers linked to Russia's government tried to target the websites of two right-wing US think-tanks, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday. The software giant said it had thwarted the Russia-linked attempts last week, which it suggested showed Moscow was broadening its attacks in the build-up to November elections. Interfax cited an unnamed Russian diplomatic source on Tuesday as describing Microsoft's allegations as part of a political game. 'Microsoft is playing political games,' it cited the source as saying. 'The (mid-term US) elections have not happened yet, but there are already allegations.' Microsoft was acting like a prosecutor rather than a private company, Interfax quoted the source as adding.
