The Russian Federation has labeled cybersecurity firm Recorded Future as "undesirable," a designation that CEO Christopher Ahlberg considers a compliment.
“Some things in life are rare compliments. This being one,” he said in a post on X that included a screenshot of the statement made by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation.
The Russian Prosecutor General has accused Recorded Future of participating in the collection and analysis of data on the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
It added that the firm provides Ukrainian specialists with free access to programs used to prepare and conduct offensive information operations against Russia.
“They provide information and technical support for the propaganda campaign launched by the West against Russia,” the statement said.
The firm is known for publishing threat intelligence analysis via its Insikt Group, often covering Russian thereat actors and their targeting of Ukrainian entities.
Recorded Future’s Ongoing Support for Ukraine
Recorded Future has been supporting Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion.
The company has provided intelligence data to protect critical infrastructure of Ukraine, helped investigate Russian war crimes and opened access to the Intelligence Cloud software platform for over $10m. In 2023 alone, the company invested more than $20m in aid to Ukraine.
In 2024, Recorded Future has cooperated with 16 Ukrainian government agencies and enterprises.
Recorded Future has offices listed in the US, Sweden, the UK, Singapore, Japan and the UAE.
Russia’s undesirable organizations law came into effect in 2015, with listed entities banned from working in the country.
According to cyber policy and international security researcher, Oleg Shakirov, based in Washington, DC, Recorded Future is the first infosecurity company to receive such a status in Russia.
In a post on X, he noted that in general, businesses are rarely declared undesirable, Russian authorities primarily use this label for NGOs, media, foundations and civil society organizations.
In September, 2024, Mastercard agreed to acquire Recorded Future from its owners, Insight Partners, in a $2.65bn deal.
Recorded Future has more than 1900 clients across 75 countries, including the governments of 45 countries and over 50% of the Fortune 100.