Many of the leading probiv operators and brokers have moved their businesses abroad
where they are far less constrained by informal deals with the security services or fear of immediate arrest.

“Before, they still worked with the security services,
or would think twice before releasing something extremely sensitive.

Now all their brakes are off,” Zakharov said.

“They’re dumping one sensitive leak after another.”

He cited last year’s massive FSB database known as #Kordon-2023,
which was leaked online, containing details of people who had crossed Russia’s borders between 2014 and 2023.

Zakharov described it as one of the largest and most consequential leaks to date.

Well-known services such as #Himera, which had been known to cooperate with the authorities, have changed course:
the group said it had cut off law-enforcement access and relocated all its staff.

Ukrainian hackers have joined in.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion,
pro-Ukrainian hackers and other intelligence groups have repeatedly breached Russian state and commercial systems,
stealing data and releasing it openly
– often for free,
and largely for ideological reasons.

Last year, the Ukrainian hacker group #KibOrg published online a database belonging to clients of #AlfaBank, Russia’s largest private commercial bank.

The leak allegedly contained personal data on roughly
24 million individuals and more than
13m organisations.

“Taken together,” Zakharov said,
“it has never been easier to find private Russian data on the market.”

#probiv #Usersbox

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/26/russia-selling-personal-data-leaks-probiv-ukraine-spies?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other