Police in several European countries have begun to отказаться from Oxygen Forensics software for extracting data from smartphones. In Romania, Latvia, and London, decisions have already been made to review, suspend, or discontinue its use, and the U.S. Department of Justice considers the Virginia-based firm to be secretly owned by Russians.
Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) has begun the procedure to terminate its contract for Oxygen Forensic Detective; the agency bought the latest annual license on August 27 for €13,000, сообщает The Insider. The DNA said it found no signs that data extracted using this program had been compromised.
Latvia’s State Police has suspended use of the software pending review, and the Metropolitan Police in London has stopped working with it and begun a full investigation. According to Politico, Oxygen Forensics was also used by other European law enforcement agencies, including authorities in Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, and Hungary.
At the European Commission, they said the company was not part of the EVIDENCE and INSPECTr consortia and did not receive EU funding, although it is still listed on the websites of both projects. European Parliament member from the Greens, Saskia Bricmont, called on EU governments to immediately отказаться from Oxygen and check whether confidential information could have reached Russia.
In September, the U.S. Department of Justice accused Oxygen Forensics CEO Lee Reiber and CTO Oleg Davydov of concealing the company’s Russian owners and software development in Russia. After that, both were detained.
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