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| A Russian software company went undercover |
A software company that uses its code in thousands of widely downloaded apps claims to be headquartered in the United States but is actually operating in Russia, according to a new Reuters report.
Pushwoosh allegedly used fake mailing addresses and even fake LinkedIn employee profiles to appear to be US-based, but the company was actually based in a city in Siberia.
Reuters noted that Pushwoosh constantly advertises itself as a US resident in regulatory filings and social media. The company provides contract and software support services to a variety of organizations including international corporations, influential nonprofit organizations, and government agencies.
Pushwoosh codes are used in at least 8,000 different apps that are currently available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. One of the company's clients is even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which until recently used the company's code in no less than seven public applications. The US Army is also one of the company's subcontractors.
The Reuters report indicated that the company had misrepresented its identity, including by providing conflicting information to the US and Russian governments. In documents filed with the state of Delaware, where Pushwoosh is registered, the company listed addresses in Washington, D.C., California, and Maryland and did not identify itself as a Russian software company. When I present similar documents to the Russian government, they say they are in Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia.
At the same time, the company also lists certain physical addresses in the United States on its marketing materials and website, which Reuters says are in fact unrelated to the company. Reporters from the agency went to one of the addresses and found it was the home of a friend of the company's founder, who told them he had nothing to do with Pushwoosh and agreed to use his address for mail.
Meanwhile, the company created a set of social media profiles of US executives that turned out to be fake, Reuters reported.
Although the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Army erased the company's code after learning that Pushwoosh originated in Russia, there are concerns that the company was collecting data from users and then misusing it or passing it on to the Russian government.
The company's founder, Max Konev, denied any suspicion of wrongdoing, telling Reuters that Bochouch had no links to the Russian government and had not attempted to hide the company's assets. He said: "I am proud to be Russian and I will never hide it."
He also explained the rationale behind the fake LinkedIn profiles, saying a marketing agency set them up in 2018 to promote Pushwoosh, not to hide the company's Russian roots.