The Russian government has tagged U.S. threat intelligence firm Recorded Future as an undesirable organization, accusing the U.S. firm of participating in the collection and analysis of data on the actions of its military operations.
A note from Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office accused Recorded Future of providing Ukrainian specialists with free access to programs used to prepare and conduct offensive information operations against Russia.
Recorded Future chief executive Christopher Ahlberg, who has made no secret of his company’s support for Ukraine, welcomed the designation.
“Some things in life are rare compliments. This being one,” Ahlberg said in a post on the X social media site.
The undesirable entity tag effectively bans Recorded Future from doing business in Russia and adds legal complexities to any attempt to share data and analysis produced by the company.
The Russian prosecutor’s office described Recorded Future as an entity that provides services for searching, processing and analyzing data, including in the closed segment of the Internet.
“They specialize in cyber threats, actively interact with the CIA and intelligence services of other countries. They provide information and technical support for the propaganda campaign launched by the West against Russia,” according to the note.
“The organization participates in collecting and analyzing data on the actions of the Russian Armed Forces. Provides Ukrainian specialists with free access to programs used to prepare and conduct offensive information operations against Russia,” it added.
It is believed to be the first time a cybersecurity company has been designated as an undesirable entity. The Russian government typically uses this tag against non-governmental organizations (NGOs), media and civil society organizations.
Recorded Future, based in Massachusetts, is in the process of being acquired by financial services giant Mastercard for $2.6 billion. When the deal was announced, Mastercard positioned the transaction as an expansion of its cybersecurity services and said it would bolster the insights and intelligence used to secure its financial services ecosystem.
Recorded Future was previously acquired by private equity firm Insight Partners for $780 million in 2019. It is considered the world’s largest threat intelligence company, with customers in 75 countries, including the governments of 45 nations.
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