Parler's New Partner Has Ties to the Russian Government
Parler LLC, the social media app popular with Trump supporters and conspiracy theorists, is attempting to get back online with the help of a Russian company whose clients include an internet service provider to Russian intelligence, raising concerns about the conservative social forum’s security if it ever formally returns.
U.S-based Parler began working with DDoS-Guard on Jan. 17 after getting cut off from Amazon Web Services. The Russian company offers its customers cybersecurity services and web hosting, which includes reserving website names, collecting platform data and piecing it together to present on the internet.
Publicly available internet information shows Parler’s data flows through a DDoS-Guard server registered to an address in Belize, which cybersecurity experts believe is a tool to protect the true identity and location of Parler’s web host. The Russian company declined to say what services it’s offering Parler.
Nevertheless, cybersecurity researchers said Parler’s relationship with DDoS-Guard -- which has fulfilled contracts with several government entities including the state-owned telecommunications company TransTeleCom Co ZAO -- raises concerns that its millions of users could be susceptible to surveillance if the platform returns online. Russian telecommunications companies play an essential role in the government’s digital surveillance program, SORM, which requires service providers and carriers to install backdoors to state intelligence.
“Most people would be afraid of being fronted by Russians, but Parler actually signed up for it,” said Justin Shattuck, senior security solutions engineer at Resilience Cyber Insurance Solutions. “It’s a little crazy.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-22/parler-s-new-partner-has-ties-to-the-russian-government
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