“In light of information recently made public about the company that produces this software, the National Anticorruption Directorate has initiated the necessary procedures to terminate the contractual obligations regarding this product,” DNA said.
The agency added that its checks had found no evidence that data extracted or processed using Oxygen had been compromised.
Elsewhere, Latvia’s State Police has suspended its use of the software while it assesses whether to continue using the technology. The police explained that officers had previously relied on it to extract and analyze electronic data, but stressed that its use “was under strict control,” meaning it was isolated from employees’ working computers.
In Britain, London’s Metropolitan Police has paused its use of Oxygen and launched a full review. The National Police Chiefs’ Council has also encouraged forces using the technology to conduct their own assessments.
Concealing control
The moves follow POLITICO reporting this week that the Virginia-based Oxygen, which the U.S. Justice Department has accused of being secretly owned and operated from Russia, participated in EU-backed digital-evidence projects and later supplied technology to European law enforcement agencies.
Other European countries that had purchased the services of Oxygen Forensics include Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and Hungary. Police agencies from those countries have not responded to POLITICO’s request for comment.