DNA Drops Oxygen Forensics / Several European Police Forces Suspend Software Accused of Russian Links

Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate has initiated procedures to terminate its contract with Oxygen Forensics, the company that supplies software used to extract and analyze data from mobile phones. The decision follows an investigation published by Politico this week into the manufacturer’s alleged Russian links.

DNA said its latest annual license was purchased on August 27, through a Romanian distributor, for €13,000. The institution said internal checks had found no evidence that data analyzed with the software had been compromised.

Following the revelations, Latvia’s State Police suspended use of the software and is assessing whether to continue the cooperation. London’s Metropolitan Police took a similar measure and launched a wide-ranging review, while the United Kingdom’s National Police Chiefs’ Council recommended that other forces also assess their contracts.

According to U.S. prosecutors, the Russian owners of Oxygen Forensics allegedly concealed their control of the company after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while the technology reportedly continued to be developed and managed from Russia. The U.S. Department of Justice does not, however, claim that the software contains malicious code or that it was used to gain unauthorized access to data.

The company has also provided services to agencies in Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and Hungary. Members of the European Parliament have called for investigations into potential exposure of sensitive information, while the European Commission says Oxygen received no EU funding.