In St. Petersburg, a verdict was handed down to an employee of the Research and Testing Center of Biomedical Technologies "12th Central Research Institute" of the Russian Ministry of Defense, who intentionally installed malicious software on a work laptop. The United Press Service of the St. Petersburg Courts reports that the Primorsky District Court found the suspect guilty of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Creation, Use and Distribution of Malicious Computer Programs").
According to the press service, "no later than" September 20, 2023, Nikolai Urazovsky, in his office, "desiring to neutralize computer information protection means," installed a pirated, unlicensed operating system "Windows Zver" on a "laptop intended for processing restricted official information."
The man also installed some malicious JavaScript-based software on the work laptop, which is designed for "unauthorized acquisition of confidential user information without their consent" and is capable of "introducing other malicious programs onto the device by changing the security settings of the operating system." Urazovsky was aware of the malicious properties of the installed programs and pleaded guilty in court.
The extent of the damage to the Ministry of Defense institution from the actions of its employee is not disclosed. The case was considered in a special procedure, and the court sentenced the man to a restriction of freedom for a term of 1.5 years.
What does the 12th Central Research Institute of the Russian Ministry of Defense do?
The 12th Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense was established in 1950 and is one of the fundamental institutions ensuring national security. Its key tasks include:
- researching the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion and their impact on weapons, military equipment, structures, and people;
- testing weapons samples for the effects of electromagnetic fields of natural and man-made origin, fragments, bullets, special weapons, and weapons based on new physical principles;
- developing recommendations for troops on protecting personnel and equipment from nuclear weapons damage;
- scientific and methodological guidance for testing special weapons and scientific support for organizing Russia's defense against nuclear attack.
The institute has a unique experimental testing base, including stationary and mobile testing complexes of various kinds. Officially, there are ten testing sites where complexes such as the following have been built at various times:
- the largest shock tube in Russia, UT-5000;
- the GIN-10 voltage pulse generator;
- the IEMI-6 and IEMI-6M electromagnetic pulse simulators;
- the "Arterit" complex for testing large-sized military equipment for the effects of powerful electromagnetic fields;
- the "Zenit" complexes for testing samples of military equipment and weapons for the effects of electromagnetic pulse;
- the SNEG-13 thermonuclear neutron generator;
- the PRIZ fast neutron nuclear reactor;
- the BARS pulsed nuclear reactor;
- complexes for testing samples of military equipment and weapons for the effects of weapons based on new physical principles (laser and microwave weapons).
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