Thousands of smartphone applications in Apple and Google's online stores contain computer code developed by a technology company, Pushwoosh, that presents itself as based in the United States, but is actually Russian, Reuters has found.
November 14, 2022, 12:10 PMLONDON/WASHINGTON - Thousands of smartphone applications in Apple and Google's online stores contain computer code developed by a technology company, Pushwoosh, that presents itself as based in the United States, but is actually Russian, Reuters has found.
On social media and in U.S. regulatory filings, however, it presents itself as a U.S. company, based at various times in California, Maryland and Washington, D.C., Reuters found. Russia, whose ties with the West have deteriorated since its takeover of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and its invasion of Ukraine this year, is a global leader in hacking and cyber-espionage, spying on foreign governments and industries to seek competitive advantage, according to Western officials.
Pushwoosh code has been embedded into almost 8,000 apps in the Google and Apple app stores, according to Appfigures, an app intelligence website. Pushwoosh's website says it has more than 2.3 billion devices listed in its database. Keir Giles, a Russia expert at London think tank Chatham House, said despite international sanctions on Russia, a "substantial number" of Russian companies were still trading abroad and collecting people's personal data.
The Army told Reuters it removed an app containing Pushwoosh in March, citing "security issues." It did not say how widely the app, which was an information portal for use at its National Training Center in California, had been used by troops. "We don't have a direct relationship with Pushwoosh," Unilever said in a statement, adding that Pushwoosh was removed from one of its apps "some time ago."
The Kensington house is the home of a Russian friend of Konev's who spoke to a Reuters journalist on condition of anonymity. He said he had nothing to do with Pushwoosh and had only agreed to allow Konev to use his address to receive mail.
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