A digital forensics tool long used by U.S. law enforcement agencies to extract and analyze data has been secretly controlled by Russian citizens. According to U.S. prosecutors, the software was developed in Russia and its clients included Russian intelligence agencies, including the FSB.
A digital forensics tool long used by U.S. law enforcement agencies to extract and analyze data has been secretly controlled by Russian citizens. According to U.S. prosecutors, the software was developed in Russia and its clients included Russian intelligence agencies, including the FSB.
Oxygen Forensics, a Virginia-based company, sold popular software called Oxygen Forensics Detective, which is designed to hack, recover, and analyze data from smartphones, computers, and cloud storage. Its customers included the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Cybernews reported .
According to the criminal complaint, the Russian Oleg Davydov and four other Russian citizens were behind the formally American company. The same group owned a Moscow company that supplied software directly to the Russian FSB.
Now, US law enforcement agencies are taking tough measures against the company's management:
Lee Reiber, CEO of Oxygen Forensics, was arrested in Idaho on charges of wire fraud;
Oleg Davydov was detained at London's Heathrow Airport, and the US is seeking his extradition.
The US Department of Justice notes that there is currently no evidence that the software contained malicious code or was used to gain unauthorized access to customer systems. The main charges relate to concealing the Russian origin of the development when concluding government contracts.
According to the investigation, Reiber deliberately concealed his ties to the Russian Federation in order to obtain multi-million dollar contracts. When journalists began asking about the Russian owners in November 2023, Reiber warned in correspondence with Davydov that this could "destroy all opportunities."
It was a deal with the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI), which is part of the US Secret Service. Despite reservations, in September 2024 Oxygen successfully signed a 5-year contract to supply software for training American law enforcement officers.
The software development was fully controlled from Russia under Davydov's leadership via cloud infrastructure. After the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions, the Russian branch of Oxygen was renamed MKO Systems (known in the Russian Federation for its product "Mobile Forensic Analyst").
According to The Insider's investigation, this is the software the FSB used to hack the iPhone of detained Radio Liberty journalist Alsou Kurmasheva in 2023. She was later convicted in a closed trial on charges of spreading "fake news" and released 9 months later as part of a major prisoner exchange between the United States and the Russian Federation.
This case has significantly increased the attention of American authorities to the security of software supply chains and control over companies that have access to sensitive information.
