Russian law enforcement reportedly struggling with a shortage of smartphone hacking equipment

Russian law enforcement agencies are facing a shortage of specialized equipment used to hack smartphones, RBC reported, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.

According to those sources, the issue has worsened since the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, due to sanctions and the withdrawal of foreign companies.

In recent years, Israel’s Cellebrite, Sweden’s MSAB, and Canada-based Magnet have all left the Russian market, said Igor Bederov, head of information and analytical research at T.Hunter. Cellebrite had reportedly already ended its cooperation with Russian security agencies in 2021. As a result, the market is now left with Russia’s Mobilnyy Kriminalist, China’s Forensic MagiCube, and products from the Russian company Elcomsoft.

Dmitry Boroshchuk, a cybersecurity researcher and head of BeholderIsHere Consulting, said Russia lacks a well-developed market for forensic smartphone investigation tools. “These tasks rely on software suites or sets of interfaces for different functions,” he said. “But there are no complete packages specifically designed for field forensic work.”

Experts say another challenge in hacking smartphones is the increasing security of Android and iOS operating systems.

The human rights group Department One previously reported that Russian security forces hack mobile devices at border checkpoints using both Cellebrite and Mobilnyy Kriminalist. While Cellebrite has officially ceased operations in Russia, rights activists note that its UFED system — a forensic hardware and software suite capable of hacking many mobile devices and extracting various types of data — remains in use at border crossings. The UFED system is also available on the black market.