The revelations follow the arrest of Oxygen Forensics CEO Lee Reiber in Idaho and co-founder Oleg Davydov in London for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The U.S. Justice Department alleges the duo misled the Pentagon and Secret Service into spending about $2 million on the software by claiming it was American-made, when it was actually controlled by five Russians through a Cyprus holding company. While the software's Russian counterpart was used by the FSB to unlock a journalist's iPhone in 2023, U.S. prosecutors noted there is no evidence of malicious code or unauthorized data access in the versions sold to government clients.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
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European Police and Morocco Used Russian-Controlled Forensic Software
Cybersecurity23 days ago
Digital investigation tools’ secret ties to Russian operatives extended to security services in Germany, Spain and Italy, a Politico report found. Law enforcement agencies in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Latvia also used software from Oxygen Forensics, while Moroccan authorities received the technology through an EU-funded border-management program. The software was also linked to EU-funded initiatives, including the EVIDENCE project, which received more than €1.9 million between 2014 and 2016, though the European Commission stated Oxygen was not a direct member of those consortia.
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