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Hacked Emails Reveal Russian Plans To Obtain Sensitive Western Tech

Posted by Soulskill on from the mainly-just-breadmakers dept.

blando writes: A trove of emails provided to The Intercept detail Russian schemes to obtain a crucial component for military thermal-imaging systems. Though emails about the thermal imaging systems date back as far as 2006, the plans to acquire them began in earnest much more recently, in 2013. To try to hide Russian involvement, a company called Cyclone established a new company in the Republic of Cyprus. They did so with the help of a company called Rayfast, which was owned by three other companies itself. After obfuscating the new company's ownership and military ties, they reached out to several Western companies who worked with the technology.

16 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. it gets worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    hacked emails also reveal that sourceforge is full of malware. Put there by sourceforge. When will slashdot report that?

    1. Re:it gets worse by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Like how the Russian are spying on us? That isn't new either.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:it gets worse by Mashiki · · Score: 2

      Never. Now bow down before your DICE overlords peon.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
  2. Just...wow. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    FTA:"In April 2014, Viktor Tarasov wrote to the head of Ruselectronics, a Russian state-owned holding company, about a critical shortage of military equipment. The Russian military lacked thermal imaging systems — devices commonly used to detect people and vehicles — and Tarasov believed that technology might be needed soon because of the “increasingly complex situation in the southeast of Ukraine and the possible participation of Russian forces” to stabilize the region."

    Are they saying for the last 30 years they have had "zero" military thermal imaging capabilities? Couldn't they have just bought a few off e-bay? Something doesn't fit here...

    1. Re:Just...wow. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Military grade thermal imaging of the sort on fighter jets or heat seeking missiles is not really the same as the consumer level junk you'd find on e-bay that people use to look for Sasquatch or find people in burning buildings.

      The only way to deal with these kinds of situations is to punish the Western companies suckered into the deal SEVERELY. Doing business with unknown, shady companies that involve regulated tech just to try to chase every dollar that someone hints they may throw your way ... well, the executives of the company should be jailed.

    2. Re:Just...wow. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Western intelligence has always overestimated foreign military capabilities and resources, particularly that of the Russian military. It's what justifies their huge budgets.

    3. Re:Just...wow. by Rei · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, fines for violating export laws.

      Being slapped with massive fines is usually pretty good motivation for a company. And given that the US spends nearly half of the world's total military spending, and the EU a good chunk of the rest, simply "hopping overseas" and choosing to serve other markets isn't exactly the smartest of plans, financially.

      It's idiodic for a company to wilfully risk sales of hundreds of thousands of units per year to NATO to sell a couple hundred units to Russia. Russia's economy is barely bigger than Canada's. And less than 80% the size of Brazil's.

      --
      "Who the **** put an emergency exit in the interrogation room?!" -- Police chief, "Jesus Christ Supercop"
    4. Re: Just...wow. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      When it comes to military hardware and technology, there is no free market, and there never has been, you incredible dunce.

    5. Re:Just...wow. by PPH · · Score: 3, Informative

      Being slapped with massive fines is usually pretty good motivation for a company.

      Some years ago, Boeing was slapped with $500 million in fines by the DoJ. Within a few weeks, the Pentagon cut Boeing a check for .... $500 million for "additional expenses".

      When you are the only source for some hardware, you don't pay fines. The taxpayer pays fines. And sometimes, you even make a profit on the transaction.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    6. Re:Just...wow. by godel_56 · · Score: 2

      FTA:"In April 2014, Viktor Tarasov wrote to the head of Ruselectronics, a Russian state-owned holding company, about a critical shortage of military equipment. The Russian military lacked thermal imaging systems — devices commonly used to detect people and vehicles — and Tarasov believed that technology might be needed soon because of the “increasingly complex situation in the southeast of Ukraine and the possible participation of Russian forces” to stabilize the region."

      Are they saying for the last 30 years they have had "zero" military thermal imaging capabilities? Couldn't they have just bought a few off e-bay? Something doesn't fit here...

      If you'd read TFA you'd see that they have been doing that as well.

  3. sold online in Russia in abundance by Max_W · · Score: 2

    Strange. I just made a search and found literally hundreds of high-ent thermal-imaging devices in Russian Internet shops: http://www.4glaza.ru/katalog/p... http://tut.ru/PNV

    1. Re:sold online in Russia in abundance by Trachman · · Score: 2

      2nd Generation devices. I believe current demand is for 4th and 5th generation.

  4. Alibaba is your friend by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "(Pentagon spokesperson Eileen Lainez confirmed that the Department of Defense had provided thermal imaging devices and night-vision goggles to Ukraine in 2014, along with a variety of other military equipment)."

    http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/night-vision-goggles.html

    I have to say I'm very skeptical, even a quick search shows Night Vision goggles are easy to obtain and mostly made in China, but then again it does refer to 'advanced imaging' non-cooled types and this is military kit on the sights of ground weapons not soldiers kit.

    But when I search for the microbolometer-arrays non cooled chips, those are freely available too:
    http://irthermalimaging.manufacturer.isp.org.cn/c1305084-thermal-imaging-module
    http://irthermalimaging.manufacturer.isp.org.cn/c1305083-uncooled-infrared-detectors

    I sooo want to believe this, Putin is an election rigging murderer no doubt. His popularity is fake no doubt. Ukraine is invaded by Russia no doubt, Crimea is not free and certainly did not vote massively to become Russian, no doubt at all that Russian soldiers are there, but as soon as the emails mentioned it was needed in Ukraine by the russian troops, it sort of went too far.

    Like the bad guy giving away the plan to the good guy, in a movie just so the audience can understand the plot.

    You know, a security company whose spokesman is its owner, reveals leaked emails from hackers revealing secrets full of names and plots, I sort of expect to see Wikileaks style details of the emails, not a novella from the security company showing the big houses of the Russians the way a Jame Bond movie shows the villains hideouts..

    I'm still willing to believe this, but really i needs a Wikileaks dump of the emails.

  5. What is the point? by Karmashock · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Russia can't build any of that stuff even if they got the plans.

    Their tech is mostly bluster and bravado at this point.

    Take their new fighter jet... looks cool right? Well, that's about all it does with any competence. That is in fact its point. To look cool. As a weapons platform, it is a joke.

    And that goes for the majority of the Russian armory. It is either some cold war rusting piece of shit that hasn't been upgraded with new sensors or weapons. Or it is some Potemkin village farce.

    The Russians have their heads so far up their own asses that they're using mobile crematoriums to hide their own war dead from their own people in Ukraine.

    Talk to a Russian about Ukraine. They'll swear that this talk of Russian soldiers in Ukraine is just western propaganda.

    Never mind that literally everyone else contradict that from the Ukrainians to about a dozen NATO members to sat photos showing Russian tanks crossing the border... etc.

    So what are the Russians going to do if they steal our tech? They're not competent enough to build it regardless.

    Their economy is a joke... look at this:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    So, they rank lower than Slovakia and Slovenia... below Greece.... you know, that country in the EU that everyone is laughing at for being incompetent.

    Seriously, what is Russia going to do?

    They talk a big game but Russia is the Black Knight of Asia:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

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  6. Re:2015... the year we bash Russia.... by Coren22 · · Score: 2

    Is it bashing Russia to tell a truthful story?

    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  7. Citation? by forand · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That is pretty damning. Do you have an references that one could read up on the exact situation to which you are referring?