Met Police suspends Oxygen Forensics software over US Russian-ownership allegations

October 2, 2026 at 02:15 PM2 min

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The Metropolitan Police has paused use of Oxygen Forensics software and launched a full review after US prosecutors alleged the company was secretly Russian-owned. The force said the tool was used in less than 0.2 percent of over 23,000 digital forensics actions in the past year. The pause follows the arrest of Oleg Davydov at Heathrow and US extradition proceedings.

Key Facts

The Metropolitan Police signed a three-year deal with Oxygen Forensics in December 2023.
Oxygen's software was used in less than 0.2 percent of the more than 23,000 actions carried out by the Met's digital forensics team over the past year.
US prosecutors allege Oxygen was owned and controlled by five Russian nationals through a Cyprus-based holding company.
Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, 52, was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport last month and appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.
US defense and homeland security agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations and the Secret Service, bought Oxygen's software.

The Allegations

US prosecutors allege Oxygen Forensics, based in Alexandria, Virginia, presented itself as an independent American company despite being owned and controlled by five Russian nationals through a Cyprus-based holding company. The same five Russians allegedly owned Moscow-based MKO Systems, previously known as Oxygen Software, where developers actually wrote Oxygen's software. MKO sold the technology in Russia under different product names to customers reportedly including the FSB, the Russian Investigative Committee, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The US Department of Justice is not alleging that Oxygen's software contained malicious code or was used to gain unauthorized access to customer systems or data.

Met Police Response

The Metropolitan Police confirmed it has paused use of Oxygen's tools and launched a full review. A Met spokesperson said the force does not share any data obtained from investigations with Oxygen Forensics Inc. The force said Oxygen's software runs on a closed IT system that is not connected to the internet. The Met believes any impact on ongoing investigations will be extremely limited.

Arrest and Extradition

Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, 52, was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport last month while preparing to fly to Turkey. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday as the US seeks his extradition. District Judge Anthony Calloway declined to grant bail, citing Davydov's Russian citizenship and residence and the risk that he could flee. A clerk at Westminster Magistrates' Court said Davydov was refused bail because the court had not had enough time to gather important information.