In mid-March Yandex, the Russian online search giant — also running a variety of other digital services — announced it intended to sell its news aggregation service and infotainment platform ‘Zen.’ The move was possibly linked to the government’s crackdown on free expression. Amid the war on Ukraine, a new law had banned what the authorities consider to be “false” …
Will Yandex sell its news and infotainment services? Read More
Russia has arrested the alleged co-founder of dark web platform Hydra a week after U.S. and German authorities said they shut down what they called the world’s largest illegal darknet marketplace. German police said this month it took control of Hydra’s Germany-based servers and seized $25 million in bitcoin assets. The U.S. Justice named Dmitry Pavlov, 30, as the …
Russia arrests alleged co-founder of world’s largest darknet marketplace Read More
Virtual private networks (VPNs) are more in use than ever in Russia as a number of social networks and media have been made inaccessible by the authorities. Mobile operator Yota reports that the proportion of its subscribers using VPN services grew 38-fold, reaching 22.8% of the total number of Yota clients, from Jan. 1 to …
VPN use skyrockets as Russia blocks popular social networks and media resources Read More
The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) has disrupted an attempt by Sandworm, a hacking group known to work for Russia’s military intelligence, to take down a Ukrainian energy provider. The Russia-backed hacking group attempted to disconnect the unnamed provider’s electrical substations using a new version of the infamous Industroyer malware, CERT-UA said in a security …
Ukraine disrupts attempt by Russian hackers to take down energy provider Read More
Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has furloughed its Russian staff for at least one month after suspending new orders as Beijing faces potential secondary sanctions for doing business with Moscow, Forbes Russia has reported. The United States has warned China not to help Russia evade sanctions, threatening to expand its toolbox of secondary penalties that force …
Huawei suspends new orders, furloughs Russia staff amid sanctions threat Read More
The United States said on Wednesday that it had secretly removed malware from computer networks around the world in recent weeks, a step to pre-empt Russian cyberattacks and send a message to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The move, made public by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, comes as U.S. officials warn that Russia …
How US secretly removed malware worldwide, pre-empting Russian cyberattacks Read More
This year, Google Summer of Code (GSoC) — a global online program focused on bringing more developers into open source software development — will not accept participants from Russia or Belarus. Neither will coders from “the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (‘DNR’) and Luhansk People’s Republic (‘LNR’)” be allowed to participate, says GSoC in its FAQ, referring to “current circumstances.” Ukrainian participants are welcome, provided that they are located outside …
Google bans Russian and Belarusian participants from its open source programming contest Read More
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company has suspended its investments in Russia due to the Ukraine crisis, one of its top executive said last week. “What is happening in this crisis between Russia and Ukraine is a travesty, with catastrophic consequences, in terms of human life and in terms of the impact it’s having on economies all …
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund suspends investments in Russia Read More
On the evening of February 23, just a few hours before Vladimir Putin’s army crossed into Ukrainian territory, a message from Amazon arrived in the inbox of Vladimir Smirnov, a programmer from St. Petersburg. It was a work permit for a software engineer position in Ireland. Smirnov had begun interviewing for the position at Amazon in …
Tech workers describe detentions and interrogations as they flee Russia Read More
Yandex, the Russian digital giant whose Nasdaq stock trading has been suspended since Feb. 28, laid off over two dozen US-based workers last month, reported The Verge. Yandex had been operating a small fleet of driverless cars in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Yandex said the vehicle licenses were suspended by the state authorities — which Michigan denies. …
Avito, Russia’s leading classifieds platform (a subsidiary of OLX Group, owned by Naspers affiliate Prosus), will operate as an independent Russian business, “We can confirm OLX Group has taken a decision to cease all involvement in its Russian operations. The separation process is underway which will decouple the companies into two independent entities. Avito will operate …
Naspers’ OLX no longer involved in operations of Russian subsidiary Avito Read More
Cryptocurrency mining needs to be regulated “as soon as possible,” Russian Deputy Minister of Energy Evgeniy Grabchak said during Russia’s first national conference of legal bitcoin miners, held recently in Irkutsk. The Siberian oblast, where electricity rates start at just $0.01 per kWh, has been dubbed “the mining capital of Russia” as coin minting in the …
Russian minister calls for urgent legalization of crypto mining Read More
