As the US and Europe tighten restrictions on Russian tech firms, Moscow is quietly extending its cyber influence across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, presenting its commercial cybersecurity capabilities as protection against Western interference.
Last April, Nikolai Patrushev, head of Russia's Security Council, convened a meeting in St Petersburg with security officials from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
The meeting, focused on "information sovereignty and security," outlined how Russian cybersecurity companies could help governments control their national information infrastructure.
National security advisers, intelligence chiefs, and heads of security councils attended from Brazil, Sudan, Thailand, Uganda, China, Iran, and the Arab League. Many welcomed Russia's offer, seeing its cyber technologies as a way to secure digital infrastructure and counter Western influence through social media.
Russia integrated this cyber push into a strategy that included deploying paramilitary groups such as Wagner, opening Russian cultural centres in Africa, and expanding intelligence operations in regions between superpowers.
Several Russian cyber firms maintain links to the Kremlin's military and intelligence services.
The US Treasury sanctioned Positive Technologies in 2021 and Kaspersky Lab in 2024 for cooperating with Russian intelligence, though both companies dismissed the allegations as "groundless" or "unjustified and baseless."
Since the St Petersburg meeting, Russian firms have expanded globally. Positive Technologies signed a distribution agreement with Mideast Communication Systems in Cairo, gaining a foothold in Africa and the Middle East.
Cyberus Foundation partnered with Qatar's Al-Adid Business to create Cyberdom Qatar and Hackademy, and later partnered with the CSTO to coordinate cyber defences among member states.
Kaspersky Lab signed agreements with Smart Africa and joined the African Network of Cybersecurity Authorities, shaping Africa's emerging cybersecurity sector.
At the 2025 St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Yury Maksimov, co-founder of Positive Technologies and Cyberus, emphasised the importance of "digital sovereignty" for countries lacking technological independence.
Andrey Bezrukov, a former Russian sleeper agent in the US, now leads the Russian Association for the Export of Technological Sovereignty, promoting Moscow's cyber services abroad.
Experts warn that Russia's expansion gives it access to foreign digital infrastructure and influence over training the next generation of cyber specialists. Western sanctions may have inadvertently accelerated Moscow's outreach, strengthening its leverage over global cybersecurity networks.
