- 3,002
- 280
- 1,730
The blocking of the Telegram bot "God's Eye", which acted as an aggregator of data from open sources, could lead to a serious redistribution of the "black" and "gray" penetration market. Experts warn of the risk that this market, worth up to 15 billion rubles, will be completely captured by Ukrainian projects. Izvestia
's sources in law enforcement agencies report that the formal reason for active action against the Telegram bot was a gross violation of the legislation on the protection of personal data. Law 421-FZ , which came into force at the end of 2024, criminalizes the illegal circulation of personal data , and the activities of "God's Eye" fall under new articles of the Criminal Code. In addition, a number of experts believe that pressure on "God's Eye" is part of a general trend towards de-escalation of the Russian-American confrontation in cyberspace, along with the neutralization of ransomware operators who acted against American companies. The bot's creator, Evgeny Antipov, told the publication that he had stopped the service on his own initiative, having assessed the legal risks. At the same time, he denies information about investigative actions being carried out against him or his employees.
[td]“All our sources are now in a panic, and after this news, the same thing is happening with the payment system,” Antipov told an Izvestia correspondent.[/td]
Igor Beder, Director of the Investigations Department at T.Hunter, estimated the Russian “punching” market at approximately 15 billion rubles a year, but Evgeny Antipov believes this figure is overstated, since the market is highly segmented.
[td]"Punching, searching and checking data are different processes with different approaches and financial prospects. Classic punching is associated with buying information on closed platforms, where the price per request varies from 500 to 6 thousand rubles, and monthly profit can reach 3-5 million rubles. Telegram bots occupy a separate niche. Illegal bots working with closed data can bring in from 10 to 15 million rubles per month," Antipov explained.[/td]
The total number of users of such services is estimated at 1.5 million people. According to Igor Bederov, the appearance of "God's Eye" increased the audience of the "probiv" market by 100 times.
According to the F6 company, there are about 300 players on the Russian "probiv" market, most of whom are anonymous and occupy narrow niches.
Evgeny Antipov has repeatedly stated that the "God's Eye" service is popular among employees of Russian law enforcement agencies, to whom it was provided free of charge. To gain access, employees used official email addresses on the official domains of their departments.
[td]"Some employees in the regions actually sent requests from official addresses of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After the news about the blocking, my colleagues and I created our own bot based on the "Eye of God," said a source in law enforcement agencies.[/td]
At the same time, Izvestia’s sources note that such services are also actively used by criminals, which has been repeatedly confirmed by investigations of high-profile crimes.
[td]"Ukrainian special services usually act simply - they hire an executor who collects data about the object in the same bots. Even outside of high-profile crimes, people often use the breakthrough to independently search for the culprits of domestic conflicts, for example, road accidents, which creates the risk of new crimes," the source explained.[/td]
However, according to sources in law enforcement and criminal structures, the closure of "God's Eye" will not have a serious impact on their activities, as there are alternative solutions.
Ashot Oganesyan, the author of the Telegram channel "Information Leaks", believes that users of such services are gradually moving to private data retrieval on closed resources, where prices remain affordable.
[td]"Hackers, 90% Ukrainian, regularly leak new databases to verified buyers or publish information in their Telegram channels. The most valuable databases are sold exclusively to keep competitors out," Oganesyan noted.[/td]
However, Igor Bederov warns that the place of “God’s Eye” may be taken by Ukrainian services.
[td]"The closure of major Russian services may prompt Russian users to seek access to information from Ukrainian projects, which will lead to new leaks and risks to national security. In addition, paying for the services of such bots may be regarded as financing terrorism," Bederov emphasized.[/td]
In turn, one of the major Ukrainian players in the shadow data market, Vladislav Khorokhorin, commented on these concerns as follows:
[td]"Ukrainian bots are free. We do not remove data from the search results, and you can check anything, even card numbers."[/td]
's sources in law enforcement agencies report that the formal reason for active action against the Telegram bot was a gross violation of the legislation on the protection of personal data. Law 421-FZ , which came into force at the end of 2024, criminalizes the illegal circulation of personal data , and the activities of "God's Eye" fall under new articles of the Criminal Code. In addition, a number of experts believe that pressure on "God's Eye" is part of a general trend towards de-escalation of the Russian-American confrontation in cyberspace, along with the neutralization of ransomware operators who acted against American companies. The bot's creator, Evgeny Antipov, told the publication that he had stopped the service on his own initiative, having assessed the legal risks. At the same time, he denies information about investigative actions being carried out against him or his employees.
[td]“All our sources are now in a panic, and after this news, the same thing is happening with the payment system,” Antipov told an Izvestia correspondent.[/td]
Igor Beder, Director of the Investigations Department at T.Hunter, estimated the Russian “punching” market at approximately 15 billion rubles a year, but Evgeny Antipov believes this figure is overstated, since the market is highly segmented.
[td]"Punching, searching and checking data are different processes with different approaches and financial prospects. Classic punching is associated with buying information on closed platforms, where the price per request varies from 500 to 6 thousand rubles, and monthly profit can reach 3-5 million rubles. Telegram bots occupy a separate niche. Illegal bots working with closed data can bring in from 10 to 15 million rubles per month," Antipov explained.[/td]
The total number of users of such services is estimated at 1.5 million people. According to Igor Bederov, the appearance of "God's Eye" increased the audience of the "probiv" market by 100 times.
According to the F6 company, there are about 300 players on the Russian "probiv" market, most of whom are anonymous and occupy narrow niches.
Evgeny Antipov has repeatedly stated that the "God's Eye" service is popular among employees of Russian law enforcement agencies, to whom it was provided free of charge. To gain access, employees used official email addresses on the official domains of their departments.
[td]"Some employees in the regions actually sent requests from official addresses of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After the news about the blocking, my colleagues and I created our own bot based on the "Eye of God," said a source in law enforcement agencies.[/td]
At the same time, Izvestia’s sources note that such services are also actively used by criminals, which has been repeatedly confirmed by investigations of high-profile crimes.
[td]"Ukrainian special services usually act simply - they hire an executor who collects data about the object in the same bots. Even outside of high-profile crimes, people often use the breakthrough to independently search for the culprits of domestic conflicts, for example, road accidents, which creates the risk of new crimes," the source explained.[/td]
However, according to sources in law enforcement and criminal structures, the closure of "God's Eye" will not have a serious impact on their activities, as there are alternative solutions.
Ashot Oganesyan, the author of the Telegram channel "Information Leaks", believes that users of such services are gradually moving to private data retrieval on closed resources, where prices remain affordable.
[td]"Hackers, 90% Ukrainian, regularly leak new databases to verified buyers or publish information in their Telegram channels. The most valuable databases are sold exclusively to keep competitors out," Oganesyan noted.[/td]
However, Igor Bederov warns that the place of “God’s Eye” may be taken by Ukrainian services.
[td]"The closure of major Russian services may prompt Russian users to seek access to information from Ukrainian projects, which will lead to new leaks and risks to national security. In addition, paying for the services of such bots may be regarded as financing terrorism," Bederov emphasized.[/td]
In turn, one of the major Ukrainian players in the shadow data market, Vladislav Khorokhorin, commented on these concerns as follows:
[td]"Ukrainian bots are free. We do not remove data from the search results, and you can check anything, even card numbers."[/td]