DEEP TROUBLE

Treasury Sanctions Cybersecurity and Dive Companies Linked to Russian Spies

For providing “underwater equipment and diving systems” for agencies like the FSB.

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned five Russian companies and three Russian nationals for their alleged role in improving the “cyber and underwater capabilities” of Russia’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB). The Office of Foreign Asset Control targeted Digital Security and two of its subsidiaries for their work on “a project that would increase Russia’s offensive cybercapabilities for the Russian Intelligence Services.” OFAC also sanctioned the St. Petersburg-based Divetechnoservices for providing “underwater equipment and diving systems for Russian government agencies” like the FSB. The move marks the second time that the Trump administration has sanctioned Russian entities under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, passed in August 2017 in response to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. — Adam Rawnsley