Russia's illicit 'probiv' market for personal data faces Kremlin crackdown amid Ukraine conflict
Russia's probiv market is an illicit data marketplace for leaked personal data that has been operating for more than a decade through a network of corrupt officials, police, bank employees, and low-level security staff. The market offers data for as little as $10, including passport numbers, home addresses, travel histories, car registrations, and internal police records. High-end dossiers may contain metadata on calls and movements. Probiv has played a crucial role in investigations such as tracing the FSB unit behind the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. It is also used by police and security services to track activists and individuals outside the state's favor.
Since the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin has increased its crackdown on probiv, introducing laws that raise penalties for data leaks up to 10 years in prison. Security services have detained brokers and targeted the infrastructure behind probiv, including the high-profile arrest of the Usersbox team. However, these measures have backfired as operators have moved their operations abroad seeking fewer constraints. Investigator Andrei Zakharov stated that “all brakes are off” regarding the illicit trade.
Notable leaks linked to probiv include the Kordon-2023 FSB database of border crossers from 2014 to 2023, described as one of the largest data leaks. Ukrainian hackers have also infiltrated Russian systems, with groups such as KibOrg releasing data from Alfa Bank affecting around 24 million individuals and 13 million organizations, often distributing information for free. The Himera group reportedly cut off law-enforcement access and relocated its staff.
In a 2024 national call-in, President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that a close friend was a victim of a phone scam, which analysts interpreted as a signal of the government's intent to take tougher action on the ongoing data breaches and illicit markets.
