A leading counter-terror official has reportedly warned Americans against bringing their devices to the World Cup over hacking fears.

The director of the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center, William Evanina, told Reuters that travellers could be susceptible to hacking by the Russian government or criminals.

“If you’re planning on taking a mobile phone, laptop, PDA, or other electronic device with you - make no mistake - any data on those devices (especially your personally identifiable information) may be accessed by the Russian government or cyber criminals,” he said.

Warnings about compromised devices are proliferating in the runup to the football tournament, which will be hosted in a country whose government has been accused by other intelligence agencies of using state-sponsored hackers to interfere in elections (Russia denies those allegations).

Staff from the Government Communications Headquarters were scheduled to brief members of England’s national team on cybersecurity before they flew to St Petersburg, the Independent revealed this week.

The Football Association is expected to vet devices owned by players and staff to ensure they are secure.

World Cup 2018: Ten players to watch in Group H Show all 10 1 /10 World Cup 2018: Ten players to watch in Group H World Cup 2018: Ten players to watch in Group H Robert Lewandowski, Poland Club: Bayern Munich Age: 29 Position: Forward AFP/Getty Images World Cup 2018: Ten players to watch in Group H Arkadiusz Milik, Poland Club: Napoli Age: 24 Position: Forward Getty Images World Cup 2018: Ten players to watch in Group H Sadio Mane, Senegal Club: Liverpool Age: 26 Position: Forward Icon Sport via Getty Images World Cup 2018: Ten players to watch in Group H Kalidou Koulibaly, Senegal Club: Napoli Age: 26 Position: Defender Icon Sport via Getty Images World Cup 2018: Ten players to watch in Group H Keita Balde, Senegal Club: Monaco Age: 23 Position: Forward Getty Images World Cup 2018: Ten players to watch in Group H James Rodriguez, Colombia Club: Bayern Munich Age: 26 Position: Midfielder AFP/Getty Images World Cup 2018: Ten players to watch in Group H Radamel Falcao, Colombia Club: Monaco Age: 32 Position: Forward AFP/Getty Images World Cup 2018: Ten players to watch in Group H Davinson Sanchez, Colombia Club: Tottenham Hotspur Age: 22 Position: Defender Icon Sport via Getty Images World Cup 2018: Ten players to watch in Group H Shinji Kagawa, Japan Club: Borussia Dortmund Age: 29 Position: Midfielder Getty Images World Cup 2018: Ten players to watch in Group H Shinji Okazaki, Japan Club: Leicester City Age: 32 Position: Forward Getty Images

Officials in Ukraine earlier this year warned that Russian cyberattackers were planning to target the Champions League final in Kiev.

As Ukrainian authorities were raising alarms about a potential “act of cyber-aggression by the Russian Federation”, Cisco Systems announced that its cybersecurity unit had discovered a malware attack that was aggressively infecting Ukrainian hosts.

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American intelligence officials have concluded that the Kremlin directed a sweeping effort to influence the 2016 presidential election, including through the use of cyber operations.

An investigation into Russian interference led by special counsel Robert Mueller produced indictments against members of the Internet Research Agency, a so-called “troll farm” established in St Petersburg that a criminal complaint described as a weapon of “information warfare against the United States of America”.