TECHNOLOGY · AI · CYBERSECURITY · THE SYSTEMS SHAPING BUSINESS
London's Metropolitan Police has stopped using software from Oxygen Forensics, a maker of tools that extract and analyze data from seized phones and other devices, while it conducts a full review, The Register reported Friday. The pause follows U.S. allegations that the Alexandria, Virginia, company concealed that it was secretly owned by Russian nationals and that its software was developed in Moscow.
What Happened
The Met's decision was first reported by The Times, according to The Register. A Met spokesperson said the force had paused its use of the tool and that any impact on ongoing investigations would be extremely limited. The software was used in less than 0.2% of the more than 23,000 actions its digital forensics team carried out over the past year, the force said.
The Met also said it does not share any data obtained in investigations with Oxygen Forensics and that the tool runs on isolated systems with no internet connection. The force signed a three-year contract for the software in December 2023.
RelatedThe review stems from a U.S. case announced late last month. Prosecutors allege that five Russian nationals owned and controlled Oxygen through a holding company in Cyprus. According to the Justice Department, the same people own Moscow-based MKO Systems, formerly Oxygen Software, where the products were actually built, and MKO sold similar tools under other names to Russia's FSB security service, its Investigative Committee and its Interior Ministry.
Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, 52, was arrested at Heathrow Airport as he prepared to fly to Turkey. He and Oxygen CEO Lee Reiber are accused of hiding the company's ownership and the location of its development work. At a Westminster Magistrates' Court hearing Tuesday, a judge refused Davydov bail, citing his Russian citizenship and flight risk, as the U.S. seeks his extradition. CyberScoop reported that Reiber was arrested in Boise, Idaho, and that the charge is conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Oxygen did not comment to The Register.
Why It Matters
Mobile forensics tools sit at one of the most sensitive points in policing. They are used to copy messages, photos, location data and contacts from suspects' and victims' phones, so the companies behind them are trusted with privileged access to evidence. If the U.S. allegations hold, a product used by Western police and federal agencies was developed by the same people supplying Russia's main security service.
The Justice Department has been careful about the limits of its case. Prosecutors said they are not alleging that the software contained malicious code or that customer data was accessed without authorization. The concern is concealment: U.S. buyers included Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General and the Secret Service's National Computer Forensics Institute, and the complaint says they were misled about who owned the company and where its code came from.
A Wider European Footprint
The Met is not the only police user. The National Police Chiefs' Council said other U.K. forces use Oxygen products and have been asked to carry out proportionate local assessments. Romania has begun ending its use of the software and Latvia's State Police has suspended it pending a review, The Register reported. Security Affairs reported that police in Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and Hungary have also bought or accredited Oxygen products over roughly a decade.
What to Watch
The Met's review and the local assessments by other U.K. forces will show whether any agency drops Oxygen permanently, and whether past extractions are re-examined. Davydov's extradition proceedings continue in London, while the U.S. case against Reiber moves forward. Other European police services that use the tools may follow Romania and Latvia with suspensions of their own.
