During the conflict in Ukraine last year, Russia’s top digital spies utilized new tools to combat opposition within its own borders. These tools were primarily used to aid in an internal crackdown on those who opposed the war.
As Russia invaded Ukraine, their demand for surveillance tools increased, leading to the emergence of a cottage industry of tech contractors who developed powerful and innovative means of digital surveillance.
These technologies have provided the police and Russia’s Federal Security Service (F.S.B.) with a range of snooping capabilities focused on monitoring phone and website usage. The tools enable tracking of specific activities on encrypted apps like WhatsApp and Signal, location tracking of phones, identification of anonymous social media users, and unauthorized access to people’s accounts. This information is based on documents obtained by The New York Times from Russian surveillance providers, as well as insights from security experts, digital activists, and individuals involved in Russia’s digital surveillance operations.
As Russia faces military setbacks in Ukraine, economic sanctions, and leadership challenges, President Vladimir V. Putin is increasingly relying on technology to exert political power. This marks a significant shift for Russia, which previously lagged behind authoritarian regimes like China and Iran in utilizing modern technology for control.
Alena Popova, a Russian opposition political figure and digital rights activist, stated, “It’s made people very paranoid because if you communicate with anyone in Russia, you can’t be sure whether it’s secure or not. They are monitoring traffic very actively. It used to be only for activists. Now they have expanded it to anyone who disagrees with the war.”
This effort has resulted in financial gains for a number of relatively unknown Russian technology firms, many of which are owned by Citadel Group. Citadel Group was once partially controlled by Alisher Usmanov, who faced European Union sanctions as one of Mr. Putin’s “favorite oligarchs.” The expansion of these companies overseas raises concerns that the surveillance technologies may not remain confined to Russia.
These firms, such as MFI Soft, Vas Experts, and Protei, initially focused on building components for Russia’s invasive telecom wiretapping system before developing more advanced tools for the country’s intelligence services.
According to the obtained documents, simple-to-use software that directly integrates with the telecommunications infrastructure provides a wide range of spying capabilities. The New York Times obtained hundreds of files, including engineering schematics, emails, and screenshots, from a source with access to internal records. Approximately 40 of these files detailed the surveillance tools.
One of the outlined programs…
2023-07-02 23:01:15
Original from www.nytimes.com
rnrn