The annexation of Crimea, russia's invasion in 2014, and the outbreak of a full-scale war in of a full-scale war in 2022 - all this time, thousands of video surveillance cameras running on Russian TRASSIR software, which is associated with the activities of the Russian special services. This is evidenced by an investigation by Radio Liberty journalists for the Schemes project, UNN reports.
Details
Activists who are specialists in the field of video surveillance technologies. They stated that russian video surveillance cameras under the brand name TRASSIR and the "and the software of the same name installed at many Ukrainian private and public enterprises Ukrainian private and state-owned enterprises, including those of critical infrastructure. critical infrastructure, probably send information from them to Russian servers.
The Schemes journalists decided to check it out. First of all. they conducted an experiment with experts from two specialized organizations - "Computer Forensics Laboratory" and "Digital Security Laboratory". Digital Security Laboratory. The camera used in the experiment was made, like most gadgets, in China, but its software was completely of Russian origin. And according to the analysis, this camera was sending the video it captured with the help of technical "stuffing" directly to the Russian Federation.
We can see that this camera is sending requests to the the subdomain of the website of the manufacturer of these cameras, TRASSIR - m30.ru.cloudtrassir.com. We see that this domain name corresponds to an IP address that is identified as a Russian IP address with geolocation in Moscow.- Natalia Onyshchenko, a web security specialist at the Digital Security Laboratory, explained the process of data transfer.
During the experiment, digital security experts identified several IP addresses. And a service that helps to deanonymize them, i.e. link them to a physical address, showed that these servers were located in Moscow.
That is, the video from the camera with TRASSIR software does not immediately get to the the phone or other device to which the camera is connected to see the footage. The publication noted that the video from the camera with the TRASSIR software does not go directly to the phone or other device to which the camera is connected to see what it has shot, but through moscow servers.
The Schemes journalists also identified two companies that own these servers. The first is the telecommunications company Digital Network, and the second is the company VK, which, in particular, is is the owner of the Russian social network Odnoklassniki , which is banned in Ukraine, and and the e-mail service Mail.ru.
Back in 2016, russian human rights activists and journalists reported that Russian special services have free access to social media servers, In particular, VKontakte and Odnoklassniki, as evidenced by court decisions in russia.
"Both companies owning the servers that were used to video as a result of the "Schemes" experiment are closely connected with the activities of Russian special services and law enforcement agencies: FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs," noted the Schemes investigators.
In particular, according to the journalists of "Digital Network, from 2015 to 2017, it provided Internet connection services to the military unit No. 43753 of the Russian FSB, better known in russia as the "Center for Information Protection and Special of the FSB of the Russian Federation". This center monitors and conducts state examinations of various software in Russia, as well as decrypts information received by the FSB.
Everything related to information, the Internet, communication - all this is united in this center. That is, the use of the Internet to conduct certain special information operations. - said Viktor Yahun, Major General of the SBU, in a comment to Schemes.
So, the experiment showed that if a video surveillance camera has Russian TRASSIR software, then when connected to the Internet, it transmits data to Russian servers.
According to the analysis of journalists of the Schemes project in Ukraine, a number of state-owned enterprises have purchased them, including for installation at critical infrastructure facilities, such as the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.
Among those who used russian software after 2014, in addition to the ChNPP, according to the data of "Schemes", which collected information on Prozorro tenders, maintenance services, including TRASSIR software , were ordered by: Poltava City Council, Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, Kharkiv City Council, Kherson and Nikopol city councils, Maritime Search and Rescue Service in Odesa, DniproStandardMetrology , and a number of other government agencies and law enforcement agencies.
After 2014, private businesses also purchased russian software and cameras. 2014, private businesses also purchased Russian software and cameras, including many brands familiar to Ukrainian brands familiar to Ukrainian consumers.
TRACER solutions have been implemented by popular Ukrainian and international brands. Some of our clients are: Kernel, Interpipe, P&G, Velyka Kyshenya, Nova Poshta, 1+1 TV channel, KAN Development, Ukrbud, Allo, "Citrus, Eldorado, IMAX, and many others. - said in a promotional article on the ain.ua website.
Camcorders with with Russian software installed on them were also bought by many ordinary Ukrainians to to ensure the security of their homes.
But the Schemes experiment showed that the video from these cameras before reaching the consumer's phone or computer, goes to servers that located right in Moscow and owned by companies with ties to the Russian FSB. The level of sensitivity of the information from these cameras can hardly be overestimated, as the video surveillance system allows you to recognize faces, license plates, and record the movement of people and vehicles.
A video surveillance camera with russian TRASSIR software can be installed anywhere - in a public place, at a state-owned enterprise, or inside a private home. Such cameras have been imported into Ukraine by the thousands. When they are connected to the Internet, the following happens data is transferred to a Russian server.
Skhemy inquired about the expediency and safety of selling of these cameras to Ukrainians from the specialized agency - the State Special Communications Service.
They reported that they had conducted an examination of TRASSIR equipment and TRASSIR equipment and software in 2019. But they did not share the conclusion. At the same time, in May 2022, in the midst of a major war, the agency warned "security and defense agencies" that "TRASSIR/DSSL" "cooperates with federal ministries and security services of the Russian Federation.
In response to Skhemy's request, the SBU stated that it could not to disclose details of their counterintelligence activities, but mentioned one specific case. They learned that Lviv region plans to purchase video cameras with software for UAH 8 million worth of video cameras with TRASSIR software. "Schemes" found out what it was in 2020.
The system allows you to recognize car license plates, train numbers on trains, and the faces of drivers and passengers. This could be used to obtain information about the movement of military military vehicles on railways and public roads.- the SBU said in a statement.
After the SBU intervened, the tender was canceled.
It should be noted that according to the collected data, by 2022, tens of thousands of cameras with cameras with Russian software operating in Ukraine could transmit a lot of sensitive information and personal data to Moscow servers.
Last year, on February 27, a special commission under the State Special Communications blocked millions of Russian IP addresses. Among them are the server addresses of those Russian companies that Schemes reached during the experiment by connecting TRASSIR camera to the network via a VPN service.
Skhemy journalists also warn of the threat that TRASSIR will return to the Ukrainian market under the guise of a foreign product. In particular, it is currently Romanian company AziTrend is trying to promote its product to Ukrainians.
However, if you use this allegedly Romanian service, it redirects to a video storage with a well-known Russian name - TRASSIR. TRASSIR. And before Schemes began to take an active interest in TRASSIR, the the website of the Romanian company had a lot of references to the "high-quality Russian product TRASSIR"