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The Metropolitan Police has paused its use of Oxygen Forensics digital-forensics software while it reviews the tool, following US allegations that the company’s Russian ownership and the software’s development in Russia were concealed from US government customers. The US Department of Justice says its complaint does not allege the software contained malicious code or accessed customer systems or data without authorization.
Why did the Met stop using Oxygen Forensics?
The force paused its use after US authorities announced criminal allegations concerning Oxygen Forensics’ ownership and where its software was developed. The Met told The Register on October 2, 2026: “We have paused our use of the tool while we carry out a full review.” The report did not give an outcome for that review or say whether the force would resume use.
Oxygen’s product is digital-forensics software used to extract and analyze data from seized devices. “Phone-hacking software” is a headline shorthand; the available reporting does not establish that the product was used to illegally hack phones.
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What are US prosecutors alleging?
On September 23, 2026, the US Department of Justice announced that Oxygen CEO Lee Reiber and Russian national Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov had been arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The complaint alleges that Oxygen presented itself to US government agencies as independent and based in the United States, while five Russian nationals owned and controlled it through a Cyprus-based holding company, and that the software was developed in Russia.
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Prosecutors also allege that those five people owned a Moscow-based company, known as Oxygen Software LLC until September 2022 and then as MKO Systems LLC. Developers working in Russia allegedly wrote Oxygen’s software, while MKO sold technology in Russia under other product names. The DOJ release says MKO’s reported customers included the FSB, the Russian Investigative Committee and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. These are allegations in a criminal complaint, not findings by a court.
The DOJ said Davydov was arrested at Heathrow Airport before boarding a flight to Istanbul, and that the United States expected to seek his extradition. Reiber was arrested in Idaho and released on bond, according to the same September 23 DOJ announcement.
Did the DOJ say the software contained malware?
No. The DOJ explicitly states: “The complaint does not allege that the software contained malicious code or that it was used to gain unauthorized access to any customer’s computer systems or data.” The announced charge concerns alleged concealment of ownership and development provenance in sales to US government customers; it is not an allegation that Russian authorities accessed Met data or that UK investigations were compromised.
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What did the Met say about operational impact?
The Register reported the Met’s account that Oxygen ran on a closed IT system not connected to the internet, and that the force did not share investigation data obtained with the tool with Oxygen Forensics Inc. The force said the software was used in less than 0.2 percent of more than 23,000 actions by its digital-forensics team in the preceding year. These are statements attributed to the Met in the report, not independently verified measurements.
The Met told The Register: “At this time, we believe any impact to ongoing investigations will be extremely limited.” The force had signed a three-year deal with Oxygen in December 2023, according to the same report.
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What about other UK police forces?
The Register reported that other UK forces also use Oxygen products. The National Police Chiefs’ Council said it was aware of the US allegations and stressed they “remain allegations at this stage.” It said forces using Oxygen products had been encouraged to carry out proportionate local assessments and activity to understand and contain any identified issues. The report does not establish what individual forces decided or whether they paused use.
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