Yandex

Yandex Patches Millions of Stations After eMudhra Certificate Keys Compromised

Yandex has automatically deployed security updates to millions of its smart speakers and partner televisions running YaOS between October 21 and 23. The patches address compromised intermediate certificates issued by eMudhra whose private keys consisted of trivial values from 1 to 255. Attackers who obtained these keys could generate fraudulent certificates and perform man-in-the-middle attacks against device HTTPS traffic. Enthusiasts demonstrated that local network control combined with the certificates allowed replacement of server configuration, activation of ADB, and acquisition of root access on the devices. The update removes trust in the affected certificates, overwrites compromised system files, and disables the debug interface. A factory reset restores the vulnerable firmware, so Yandex advises against resets without a compelling reason.

Yandex Restores Access to 96% of Yandex Disk Data After Data Center Attacks

Yandex has recovered access to 96 percent of user data stored on Yandex Disk following attacks that damaged its data centers. Files including documents, photographs, and videos are once again available for opening, downloading, and sharing for the majority of users. The company continues to redistribute Disk capacity across independent external sites to improve overall resilience. Basic operations such as uploading, downloading, and synchronization are now functional, yet the web version still imposes restrictions on bulk actions like downloading entire folders or multiple files at once. Users are advised to rely on the desktop client or API for these tasks during the remaining recovery phase. Yandex publishes ongoing updates on the official Yandex 360 service status page and has not provided an exact date for full restoration.

How to Prepare Your Website for Data Center Outages: Business Resilience Checklist

Following strikes on Yandex data centers, many businesses discovered that their sites and all backups were stored in a single location, leading to complete outages. The article provides a detailed checklist to mitigate such risks by separating critical components across different providers. Key recommendations include moving DNS to an independent provider, lowering TTL values, maintaining a live mirror site on separate hosting, and isolating corporate email. Additional steps cover local backups, monitoring, access management, and CDN usage. The guidance differentiates between virtual hosting, VPS or dedicated servers, and website builders like Tilda, while emphasizing compliance with Russian data localization laws such as 152-FZ.

Yandex Data Center Attacks Trigger Outages, Cloud Disruptions and Stock Decline

A series of physical attacks has disabled or partially damaged multiple Yandex data centers in Russia, leading to prolonged service outages across cloud and consumer platforms. Fires and power failures struck facilities in Sasovo, Kaluga and Vladimir between 8 and 11 October, forcing the company to shift workloads to the remaining Mytishchi site. Analysts from Finam, Rikom-Trust and Freedom Global note that recovery timelines now stretch from several months to two years for specialized hardware such as supercomputers. The incidents have already erased nearly 9 percent of Yandex share value and raised concerns over future capital expenditure, client retention in Yandex Cloud and potential sanctions complications for overseas expansion. Experts emphasize that the attacks have moved from isolated technical failures to a systemic business-continuity and investment-risk issue.

Russian Internet Services Hit by Outages After Drone Attack on Yandex Data Center in Sasovo

On October 8, multiple Russian websites and internal corporate systems experienced significant disruptions. Users reported issues accessing media outlets, transport services, and marketplaces, with many problems affecting internal company tools and professional platforms. Cian linked its website and app outage to an infrastructure partner incident, while developers A101, Granel, and Brusnika also faced temporary unavailability. T-Bank reported problems with its corporate messenger and email distributions, and similar internal system issues appeared at Ozon, Wildberries, and HSE. Astral warned of possible delays in electronic reporting and document management services. Yandex confirmed a fire at its Sasovo data center in Ryazan region following a drone attack, with no casualties but full shutdown of the facility. Experts note that not all complaints can be attributed to a single event due to varying scales of impact across companies.

Russian Interior Ministry Accuses Telegram of Ignoring Drug Trafficking Requests

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has publicly stated that Telegram completely ignores requests from law enforcement agencies aimed at combating illegal drug trafficking. According to the ministry, the messenger has become one of the main platforms, alongside darknet markets, for involving teenagers in narcotics-related crimes. Acting head of the Main Directorate for Drug Trafficking Control Kirill Smurov highlighted that Telegram administration does not respond to official inquiries and refuses to share necessary information. In contrast, Yandex promptly removes prohibited content either independently or upon the first police request. Since 2022, approximately 153,000 crimes have been committed using Telegram, while Roskomnadzor has issued more than 150,000 content removal demands that received no response. Founder Pavel Durov, who is included in the Rosfinmonitoring list of terrorists and extremists, has not engaged with Russian authorities on these matters.

Yandex Deploys OPRF Protocol to Protect Phone Numbers in Mandatory Audience Measurement Data Sharing

Yandex has detailed a cryptographic scheme using Oblivious Pseudorandom Function (OPRF) to help Russian audiovisual services comply with new legislation requiring transmission of user identifiers linked to phone numbers. The approach replaces a naive shared-secret hashing method that created a single point of compromise across dozens of competing companies. Instead, two independent third parties each hold separate secret keys and process blinded elliptic-curve points derived from normalized E.164 phone numbers. Services obtain deterministic identifiers without learning the third-party keys and without exposing raw numbers to the authorized research organization. The design distributes trust, limits offline brute-force attacks to scenarios requiring both keys plus final identifiers, and adds rate limits plus key-rotation capabilities to deter abuse. Yandex positions the solution as a practical compromise between regulatory demands, competitive secrecy, and user privacy.

Russian AI Research Ranks High in Global Science but Struggles with Commercialization

Russia has secured third place among BRICS nations and twentieth worldwide in the number of scientific papers presented at ten leading international conferences on machine learning and artificial intelligence. According to a study by the Scientometric Center of HSE University, Russian organizations contributed 560 papers between 2020 and 2025 that received over 12,300 citations. The average international citation rate reached 3.59, surpassing India despite fewer total publications. Russian strengths are most evident in the mathematics of machine learning, optimization, and formal concept analysis, with notable results also in computer vision and speech technologies. More than 40 percent of domestic publications involve business participation, led by Yandex among companies, HSE University and Skoltech among universities, and AIRI among non-profit organizations. Significant barriers remain, including shortages of computing power, limited access to high-quality data, and weak transfer of research into commercial products, particularly in natural language processing, AI agents, and infrastructure technologies. The Ministry of Digital Development has announced plans to stimulate demand for domestic AI solutions, expand computing infrastructure, improve regulation, and accelerate the implementation of scientific developments.

Russia Weighs Mandatory Use of Sovereign AI Models Like GigaChat in Government Sectors

Russian authorities are discussing a draft government resolution that would require state bodies and companies to prioritize fully domestic AI models in multiple regulated areas even when they cost up to 50 percent more than alternatives. Only GigaChat developed by Sber currently meets the proposed sovereign criteria of being created by a Russian legal entity and running exclusively on Russian infrastructure. National models such as Yandex’s Alice AI would be allowed to incorporate open-source components. The measure would apply to law-making, national projects, taxes, customs, critical information infrastructure, education, healthcare and Gosuslugi services. The Ministry of Digital Development stresses that the list remains preliminary and open to further input from market participants. Industry players including Yandex and MWS AI have voiced concerns over reduced choice and potential quality or cost disadvantages for end users.

Step-by-Step Guide to Removing Personal Data from Search Engines, Databases and Social Networks

The guide provides a practical seven-step checklist for individuals seeking to reduce their digital footprint by removing personal information from websites, search engines, and social platforms. It emphasizes starting with a 20-minute audit to compile exact URLs rather than vague requests, followed by direct contact with site owners under Russia's 152-FZ personal data law. Subsequent steps cover submissions to Yandex and Google for de-indexing, manual cleanup of old social media accounts, handling of phone numbers in caller ID services, and removal from directories and review sites. The process includes templates for formal requests, timelines for responses, and escalation paths to Roskomnadzor when operators fail to comply. Special attention is given to leaked databases, where technical removal is impossible, and to web archives such as Internet Archive that require specific legal justifications. The full cycle is estimated at two months, with quarterly maintenance recommended to sustain results.

TLS MITM and Throttling to 10 Mbps: Two Distinct Network Degradation Patterns Observed in Russia

Russian users have reported sudden slowdowns and instability on international connections over the past several days. Analysis of Tunnel Cat logs revealed two separate issues that produce similar user symptoms but require different diagnostic approaches. The first pattern involves successful TCP and TLS handshakes followed by sharp drops in throughput, often from 80 Mbps to 8-12 Mbps, consistent with DPI-based throttling of international traffic. The second pattern shows TLS certificate substitution on Windows systems, indicating active man-in-the-middle interception. Tunnel Cat now detects invalid certificates and terminates such sessions, yet the underlying network phenomena persist. The observations highlight the need to examine both bandwidth dynamics and certificate chains when troubleshooting connectivity problems from Russia.

Password Reset Fails to Evict Attackers: What Persists in Compromised Email Accounts

Even after users change passwords and enable two-factor authentication, attackers often retain access through active sessions, application tokens, and forwarding rules. The original password serves only as an entry point, while already-issued session cookies, refresh tokens, and app passwords continue functioning independently. Services like Google, Microsoft, and Yandex provide specific pages to review devices, permissions, and app passwords, yet many users overlook the critical "sign out all devices" option. In corporate environments, Microsoft Entra ID commands can revoke sessions, but access tokens may still remain valid for up to an hour afterward. Attackers frequently replace recovery details and set up mail delegation or hidden forwarding rules to maintain long-term control. The recommended sequence prioritizes session revocation first, followed by password change, MFA review, and recovery data verification to prevent re-entry via forgotten-password flows.

Yandex Maps Adds Upcoming Speed Limits and Camera Direction Details to Navigation

Yandex Maps has updated its navigation mode to display speed restrictions on upcoming road segments along the entire route. Drivers can now see a sequence of limits in advance, such as 80 km/h followed by 60 km/h after an interchange and then 40 km/h. The application also provides more detailed information about the two nearest traffic cameras, including the specific lane they target and whether they monitor oncoming or same-direction traffic. Voice alerts now warn users when a camera measures speed after the vehicle has already passed it. Pilot testing showed positive effects on speed limit compliance. The changes aim to make urban and highway driving more predictable by removing the need to guess restrictions or camera focus ahead.

Scammers Target Remote Workers with Fake Compensation for Home Internet and Devices

Russian remote employees are being targeted by fraudsters impersonating employers, government agencies, and corporate IT departments. Attackers lure victims with promises of compensation for home internet costs and personal computers, directing them to fake sites for identity verification or SMS code submission. Instead of receiving payments, victims risk handing over account credentials or banking details to criminals. Another tactic involves urgent messages from supposed IT services demanding immediate access renewal or software updates via malicious links. The pressure of urgency aims to bypass caution, leading users to click links, enter passwords, or execute files before verifying the sender. Home networks present additional risks because users manage their own routers and connected devices, unlike secured office environments. Experts from Yandex recommend changing default router passwords, updating firmware, disabling quick device pairing, and isolating smart devices on a separate guest network.

Yandex Details Alice Voice Assistant Audio Buffering and Data Handling in Android Apps

Yandex has issued a detailed technical response to an analysis of its Android applications that raised concerns over potential collection of audio, contacts, bank card data, and other sensitive information. The company acknowledged the existence of a cyclic audio buffer that retains approximately 1.5 seconds of sound before an activation phrase and 0.5 seconds after it, with some pre-command audio possibly transmitted to servers for speech recognition quality checks. Yandex clarified that the Alice assistant only listens locally for the wake word when the app is open and does not continuously record conversations. Access to contacts was explained as necessary for voice commands such as calling entries from the address book, with the full book sent on first sync and only changes thereafter, without hashing to support accurate speech processing. The firm rejected claims of reading messaging app conversations and stated that bank card details are routed directly to an isolated PCI DSS-compliant environment rather than standard application servers.

Yandex Go Develops Custom DSL to Handle Complex Dynamic Ride Pricing Logic

Yandex Go has moved its ride pricing algorithm out of the main service code into a dedicated domain-specific language to avoid frequent deployments and tangled conditional logic. The pricing system accounts for geozones, demand surges, discounts, toll roads, extra stops, and special requirements such as transporting pets or sports equipment. Parameters are collected in parallel, dependencies are modeled as a graph, and requests run asynchronously on userver so that a single slow source does not break the entire calculation. Because rules change on average twice a week, keeping the logic in C++ would require rebuilding and redeploying 50 pods for roughly 40 minutes each time. The new DSL supports conditions, functions, immutable values, and fold operations instead of loops; rules are chained so each step receives the current price and metadata and returns an updated result. ANTLR 4 defines the grammar while the Z3 verifier ensures programs cannot produce invalid prices. The platform is already used by Yandex Taxi, Delivery, and the electric-vehicle charging service.

Yandex Alice AI Replaces VK Marusya in Russia's Mandatory Preinstalled Apps List for 2027

Russian authorities have approved the official list of software that device manufacturers and sellers must preinstall on smartphones, tablets, and computers starting in 2027. The updated requirements maintain most of the previous selections without major disruption. The only notable change involves voice assistants, where Yandex Alice AI will now take the place previously held by VK Marusya. This adjustment reflects ongoing government efforts to promote domestic software through mandatory preinstallation policies. The regulation continues to focus on ensuring Russian-developed applications receive prominent placement on new devices sold in the country.

Yandex Apps Leak Pre-Trigger Audio Buffers, Payment Data, and Contacts via Reverse Engineering

Reverse engineering of Yandex Search and Yandex Browser APKs reveals extensive data collection practices on Android devices. The apps maintain a server-controlled pre-trigger audio buffer that captures up to three seconds or more of microphone input before the wake word Alice is detected. WiFi fingerprinting, full contact book synchronization via ContentObserver, and transmission of PAN and CVV details to mobpayment.yandex.net occur before tokenization. Additional findings include 94 JavaScript Bridge methods, logcat exfiltration with AES encryption, hardcoded Yandex DNS servers, and a native surveillance library named libquarkenstein_daemons.so. The analysis also covers passive geolocation, cell tower data collection, and inventory of installed applications including competitors such as Chrome, Firefox, WhatsApp, and Telegram. These mechanisms operate under remote configuration flags and bypass several Android privacy restrictions through manifest queries.

Yandex Rolls Out Universal Anti-Fraud Platform to Block Bots and Manipulation Schemes

Yandex has begun deploying its Universal Anti-Fraud system, a single AI-driven platform designed to detect bots, ticket scalping, and other forms of digital fraud across multiple services. The new solution can be integrated into a service within two to four days, replacing the previous months-long process of building separate defenses for each product. Dozens of Yandex services, including Eda, Afisha, Puteshestviya, and applications powered by Alice, are already connected to the platform. In Afisha the system identifies bots that mass-book tickets for popular events to create artificial scarcity, while in Eda it flags repeated fraudulent complaints aimed at obtaining compensation. The platform combines neural networks, analytical methods, and more than one hundred attack-pattern rules, analyzing traffic in real time and applying service-specific parameters. A key advantage is centralized updating: once a new fraud scheme is identified, protections are distributed instantly to all connected products.

Personal Digital Resilience: Strategies to Secure Access Chains and Preserve Data Portability

The article explores how individuals can strengthen their digital infrastructure against service outages, lost access, and data loss without turning maintenance into a full-time project. It defines digital resilience through two pillars: security against unauthorized access and reduced dependence on any single provider, especially when regulators in different jurisdictions interfere. The author maps real-world processes to digital services, access methods, and stored data, then outlines recovery formulas for each failure scenario. Practical steps include auditing password-manager entries, eliminating circular dependencies, separating recovery roots by jurisdiction, and exporting data in portable formats. Special attention is given to secrets such as TOTP seeds and recovery codes, which are stored in an encrypted offline archive whose master password exists only on paper. The resulting structure features two independent trees rooted at Yandex and Google, with all critical services backed by verifiable exports and tested recovery paths.

DeepSeek User Conversations Appear in Google Search Results via Publicly Shared Links

Conversations between users and the Chinese AI service DeepSeek, including Russian-language exchanges, have surfaced in Google search results. The exposed pages belong to Shared Conversations that users themselves made public through shareable links. These pages display full question-and-answer histories along with the names of any uploaded documents. No actual breach of DeepSeek occurred, and security researchers note that search engines indexed similar public chatbot dialogues more than a year ago. MWS AI confirmed that no closed chat histories or account access were exposed. Meanwhile, Yandex stated that links to conversations with its Alice AI assistant are blocked from indexing, remain active for only 14 days, and do not transmit attached files to recipients.