https://sputnikglobe.com/20260602/russias-fsb-thwarts-foreign-spy-operation-using-malware-on-russian-officials-smartphones-1124237650.html
FSB Blows Open Foreign Spy Plot to Hack Russian Officials' Smartphones
FSB Blows Open Foreign Spy Plot to Hack Russian Officials' Smartphones
Sputnik International
Foreign spy agencies sought to gather info that would measure the social mood and political sentiment in Russian society by covertly accessing the smartphones of high‑ranking Russian officials, potentially through malware, an employee of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Tuesday.
2026-06-02T05:40+0000
2026-06-02T05:40+0000
2026-06-02T09:10+0000
world
russian federal security service (fsb)
intelligence
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The FSB announced it had uncovered a plot by foreign intel agencies to extract data from the smartphones of high-ranking Russian officials, which had been compromised with malware. The foreign operatives secretly intercepted or "filmed" this information by exploiting the capabilities of US tech companies Fastly and Cloudflare."The collection of data on contacts, plans and sentiments in society was planned to be carried out directly without intermediaries like NGOs," the employee said in a video released by the FSB. Foreign spy agencies hack smartphones to gather compromising information on individuals, who are then added to Western sanctions lists and thus subjected to pressure, the agency explained."Attempts to collect data were carried out through covert access to the contents of correspondence, wiretapping, acoustic and video monitoring of the environment around the devices, as well as the collection of geolocation and contact data," the FSB employee said. Foreign spies hacked the smartphones of high-ranking Russian employees, believing that it was cheaper to get the necessary information than to recruit expensive informants, according to the video. "It can already be stated that this is a multi-level operation with far-reaching consequences and serious risks, which involves the coordination of several states," the employee said.
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russian federal security service (fsb), intelligence
russian federal security service (fsb), intelligence
FSB Blows Open Foreign Spy Plot to Hack Russian Officials' Smartphones
05:40 GMT 02.06.2026 (Updated: 09:10 GMT 02.06.2026) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Foreign spy agencies sought to gather info that would measure the social mood and political sentiment in Russian society by covertly accessing the smartphones of high‑ranking Russian officials, potentially through malware, an employee of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Tuesday.
The FSB announced it had uncovered a plot by foreign intel agencies to extract data from the smartphones of high-ranking Russian officials, which had been compromised with malware. The foreign operatives secretly intercepted or "filmed" this information by exploiting the capabilities of US tech companies Fastly and Cloudflare.
"The collection of data on contacts, plans and sentiments in society was planned to be carried out directly without intermediaries like NGOs," the employee said in a video released by the FSB.
Foreign spy agencies hack smartphones to gather compromising information on individuals, who are then added to Western sanctions lists and thus subjected to pressure, the agency explained.
"Attempts to collect data were carried out through covert access to the contents of correspondence, wiretapping, acoustic and video monitoring of the environment around the devices, as well as the collection of geolocation and contact data," the FSB employee said.
Foreign spies hacked the smartphones of high-ranking Russian employees, believing that it was cheaper to get the necessary information than to recruit expensive informants, according to the video.
"It can already be stated that this is a multi-level operation with far-reaching consequences and serious risks, which involves the coordination of several states," the employee said.
