Neowin News Feed for: Russia

Russia is using stolen U.S. made spyware to hack iPhones in Ukraine in a massive attack

Karthik Mudaliar — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 15:50:01 +0000

Russia has repurposed stolen U.S.-made multi-million-dollar spyware to attack and steal personal data from the Ukrainian government and citizens. Read more...

Apple and Google hosted apps belonging to blacklisted foreign companies on their app stores

Hamid Ganji — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 17:20:01 +0000

These apps reportedly belong to individuals and companies in China and Russia that are sanctioned by the U.S. Read more...

How Star Blizzard tried to hack the WhatsApp accounts of government and diplomatic staff

Paul Hill — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 08:32:02 +0000

Microsoft has outlined a phishing scam used by the Russian hacking group Star Blizzard to get into the WhatsApp accounts of US government and diplomatic staff. Read more...

Russia is the most recent country to impose a fine on Google

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 14:08:02 +0000

After facing orders to pay fines in multiple countries, Google has now been ordered by a Russian court to pay a fine for failing to comply with previous penalties. Read more...

Tor Project calls on community to reach 200 WebTunnel bridges by 2025

Paul Hill — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 14:32:02 +0000

The Tor Project has called on its community to set up more WebTunnel bridges as it says Russian authorities are clamping down on its anti-censorship network. Read more...

Government dilemma: Musk has been in secret talks with Putin, raising security concerns

Martin Hodás — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 16:06:01 +0000

Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Vladimir Putin since 2022. It appears to be a closely held secret in government, a new WSJ report claims. Read more...

Microsoft: State actors from Russia, Iran, and China continue to spread US election hoaxes

John Callaham — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 18:12:01 +0000

The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center says state actors based in Russia, Iran, and China are continuing to spread misinformation online about the upcoming US presidential election. Read more...

Turkey bans Discord due to illegal content sharing on the platform

Karthik Mudaliar — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:16:01 +0000

Turkey has officially banned access to the messaging platform Discord due to concerns over illegal content sharing. Read more...

Unreleased M4 MacBook Pro briefly appeared for sale in Russia

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 14:32:02 +0000

Ahead of its official debut, the M4 MacBook Pro is already up for sale on a Russian classifieds website. Read more...

Russia blocks Discord after failing to remove 'illegal content'

Omer Dursun — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 18:20:01 +0000

Russia has blocked Discord for failing to remove illegal content, according to the country's telecom regulator. Read more...

Microsoft reveals even more emails to customers were accessed by Russia-based hackers

John Callaham — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 13:24:01 +0000

Microsoft has confirmed that it has informed more of its customers that emails they sent to Microsoft's corporate employees were accessed by Russia-based hackers earlier this year. Read more...

US-Russia tensions escalate as Kaspersky ban set to be introduced

Paul Hill — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:30:01 +0000

The US could ban Kaspersky anti virus sales on Thursday, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The US government believes Kaspersky is poses a significant security threat. Read more...

After breaking up with Russia, NASA comes to save Europe's never-ending mission to Mars

Martin Hodás — Sat, 18 May 2024 19:58:01 +0000

European space mission ExoMars began in 2001. However, it came close to being canceled due to repeated delays and war in Ukraine. A new partnership with NASA aims to finally send the rover into space. Read more...

Microsoft's security threat division sees evidence of more Russian disinformation efforts

John Callaham — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 20:12:01 +0000

The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) has issued another report on possible efforts by Russia state-sponsored hackers who are posting misinformation on US social media channels. Read more...

The US government confirms Russian hacker attack on Microsoft stole government emails

John Callaham — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 14:18:01 +0000

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency confirmed this week that the recent Microsoft attack from Russian hackers stole emails between the company and the US government. Read more...

More than half of Russia's Baikal chips are defective as a result of Western sanctions

Martin Hodás — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 03:54:01 +0000

Russian semiconductor company Baikal was forced to switch to domestic partners for the packaging of its chips due to the war. However, the rate of defective products is at ridiculously high levels. Read more...

Microsoft says a Russian hacker group got access to some of its source code repositories

John Callaham — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 16:00:01 +0000

Microsoft has posted an update on the discovery that a Russian hacker group accessed its corporate email accounts. Apparently, it used the information to breach Microsoft's source code repositories. Read more...

Russian telecom overlord placed Steam Community on the list of prohibited websites

Martin Hodás — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 03:30:02 +0000

Roskomnadzor, the Russian internet censorship machine, listed the Steam community website among those banned in the country. However, once the word spread, the domain disappeared from the blacklist. Read more...

A Russian-controlled botnet of hundreds of routers has now been shut down by the US DOJ

John Callaham — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 19:46:01 +0000

The US Department of Justice announced this week that a criminal botnet set up by Russian hackers that used hundreds of home and small office routers has now been shut down by court order. Read more...

After photos from the battlefield, Musk denies that SpaceX is selling Starlink to Russia

Martin Hodás — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 09:10:02 +0000

Ukrainian intelligence confirmed that Russians are using Starlink at the front line in Ukraine. SpaceX denies a possibility that the Russian military obtained its terminals legally. Read more...

'Russia's Google' Yandex to be sold to domestic investors in $5.2 billion deal

Omer Dursun — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 11:22:01 +0000

Yandex, Russia's largest Internet company, has agreed to sell most of its Russian operations to a consortium. The deal marks Yandex NV's exit from Russia amid tensions over the invasion of Ukraine. Read more...

Microsoft says a Russian intelligence group got access to emails from its top executives

John Callaham — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 22:37:56 +0000

Microsoft announced in a regulatory filing on Friday that a Russian intelligence group called Nobelium hacked into the email accounts of some of the company's top executives in November 2023 Read more...

Telegram declares reasons behind the removal of Russian fines on some tech giants unclear

Anushe Fawaz — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 19:42:01 +0000

Recently some Western companies including Google were relieved of some fines imposed by Russians. Out of these, Telegram commented that it was unaware of the reasons why the charges were dropped. Read more...

Russia to launch astronauts to the International Space Station this week - TWIRL #129

Paul Hill — Sat, 09 Sep 2023 07:00:02 +0000

We don't have a busy launch schedule this week in terms of rocket launches. China will launch an unknown payload while Russia will launch a group of astronauts to the International Space Station. Read more...

Russians seemingly preparing to launch a MediaTek powered R-FON with custom ROSA OS inside

Ishtiaqe Hanif — Thu, 17 Aug 2023 21:08:01 +0000

STC IT ROSA, a Russian IT firm, has been developing a made-in-Russia phone. The head of APPSIM has leaked purported details about the phone on its Telegram channel with photos and videos. Read more...

Russian district court fines Google $32,000, Wikipedia also under fire

Ishtiaqe Hanif — Thu, 17 Aug 2023 18:24:01 +0000

Google was fined after failing to remove an alleged fake news video about the Russia-Ukraine conflict from YouTube, a Russian district court ruled after the company broke its administrative laws. Read more...

Virgin Galactic to send astronauts to the edge of space - TWIRL #126

Paul Hill — Sat, 05 Aug 2023 21:58:02 +0000

This week, Virgin Galactic will send several private astronauts to the edge of space and Russia will send a spacecraft to the Lunar south pole. There are many other launches coming this week too. Read more...

Microsoft warns Teams users of new Russian-backed phishing attack

Omer Dursun — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 09:38:01 +0000

Microsoft discovers a phishing attack by a Russian-backed hacker group. They are using compromised Microsoft 365 accounts to pose as tech support in Teams. The group targets govts, NGOs, and more. Read more...

New Russian-backed Mac malware found on dark web...by ChatGPT

Omer Dursun — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 13:18:02 +0000

A cybersecurity team found a new Mac malware on the Dark Web forum using ChatGPT prompts. It prices up to $60,000 and can gain full access to a target's machine. Apple didn't immediately respond. Read more...

Sanctions turn 70% of Russian gamers into pirates

Paul Hill — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 15:04:01 +0000

Following sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, gaming piracy levels have rocketed. Research has found that 7 in 10 gamers have engaged in game piracy over the last year. Read more...

SpaceX to launch ESA's Euclid space observatory - TWIRL #120

Paul Hill — Sat, 24 Jun 2023 20:22:02 +0000

We have just two rocket launches coming up this week. One will include a Falcon 9 carrying ESA's Euclid space telescope into orbit where it will map the universe across a third of the sky. Read more...

Russia claims NSA used Apple backdoor vulnerabilities to spy on iPhone users

Omer Dursun — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 12:30:01 +0000

Kremlin's concerns about US technology continue. Russia alleges the NSA used Apple iPhone vulnerabilities to spy on officials and civilians. And officials in Russia urged to stop using iPhones. Read more...

Department of Justice is investigating Binance for violating Russian Sanctions

Mehrotra A — Sun, 07 May 2023 10:20:01 +0000

The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Binance for helping Russians skirt the US sanctions. This is not the first time Binance has come under fire for violating sanctions. Read more...

Secret room in CS:GO map informing Russians about the Ukraine war

Ishtiaqe Hanif — Thu, 04 May 2023 03:34:01 +0000

Finish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat leaking the Ukraine war atrocities to Russians through a secret room. It created a map for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with a hidden underground room. Read more...

Microsoft decides to continue to work with Russian private companies not under sanctions

Ishtiaqe Hanif — Sat, 29 Apr 2023 04:28:01 +0000

American technology giant Microsoft Corporation sent out letters to around 1,000 Russian companies that are not under sanctions to renew their licenses of its software amidst the ongoing crisis. Read more...

Xiaomi denies Ukraine's claim that it's an ‘international sponsor of war'

Paul Hill — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 18:32:01 +0000

Xiaomi has hit back at Ukraine's assertion that it's an international sponsor of war. The Chinese company said that the phones it sells in Russia are for civilian and commercial use only. Read more...

TWIRL 105: SpaceX, China, Russia, and India all planning rocket launches this week

Paul Hill — Sat, 11 Mar 2023 21:20:02 +0000

We've got a busy week of rocket launches coming up next week. SpaceX, China, Russia, and India all have missions planned. It'll mostly be satellite launches, however, so nothing too exciting! Read more...

Meta: Our content moderation on Facebook and Instagram is not biased in favor of Russia

Usama Jawad — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 07:04:01 +0000

In response to allegations, Meta has shared some details about its content moderation mechanism to deny claims that its review process censors Ukrainian content while allowing Russian propaganda. Read more...

Russian courts fine Twitch $57,000 over "fake" Ukraine content

Steve Bennett — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 10:14:01 +0000

Russian courts have recently issued a $57,000 fine to Amazon-owned Twitch for failing to remove content about its military campaign in Ukraine which it reportedly says is falsified. Read more...

TWIRL 102: SpaceX to launch the Amazonas Nexus satellite and anti-reflective Starlink sats

Paul Hill — Sat, 28 Jan 2023 21:06:01 +0000

This week, SpaceX is set to carry out two launches and the Russian space agency will carry one out too. In this week's recap, we got footage of the Mitsubishi H-IIA rocket launching a satellite. Read more...