A US company that provided digital forensics and data-extraction software to the Pentagon and other government agencies was in fact owned by a Russian company that also sold software to Russian spy agencies, US authorities charged.
Oxygen Forensics' chief executive -- Lee Reiber, 55, of Idaho -- was arrested on wire fraud charges and released on bail on September 22, US prosecutors said. A Russian man -- Oleg Davydov, 52, of Moscow – was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport two days earlier, and US officials said they will seek his extradition.
In the criminal complaint released on September 23, US prosecutors said Oxygen Forensics and Reiber in particular allegedly told the US government that the Virginia-registered company had no foreign ownership or control and that its software was developed in the United States.
In fact, prosecutors alleged, Oxygen Forensics was owned by Davydov and four other unnamed Russian citizens who also ran a Moscow-based company that provides software services to the Federal Security Services, Russia's main intelligence agency.
The company set up a US affiliate in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., in 2013.
After 2022, when the United States and other Western countries tightened regulations in the wake of Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine, Davydov and his partners allegedly moved to conceal Oxygen Forensics' ownership.
Inside Russia, Oxygen was renamed MKO Systems. The company's main application, called Mobile Forensic Detective, is in wide use among Russian law enforcement agencies.
The software that Oxygen provided to US government agencies was data-extraction software, used to circumvent security features and gather data from mobile phones, computers, and other electronic devices.
The National Computer Forensics Institute for the Secret Service, which is the agency that provides protective details to the White House and government officials, signed a five-year contract with the company in 2024.
"The complaint does not allege that the software contained malicious code or that it was used to gain unauthorized access to any customer's computer systems or data," authorities said.
Both Reiber and Davydov were charged with wire fraud. Reiber did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Davydov could not be located for comment.
The announcement comes as instances of hacking, cyberespionage, malware, and other malicious computer activity have exploded around the world.
Government agencies in the United States, Russia, China, Israel, and Iran have invested massive sums into building out new cybercapabilities, and private companies increasingly have access to powerful new nongovernment tools.
The FBI on September 23 announced it was investigating a claim that a hacker group had stolen sensitive files belonging to thousands of agents and applicants and that it had compromised the bureau's jobs website.
