Medals expose Russian center for cyber espionage

Check First, a Finnish company that trains its clients on how to use open source intelligence, said it exposed a secret Russian intelligence unit using photos found online.

The company released a report that described how used phaleristics — the study of medals, ribbons, and other awards — to piece together the history and organizational structure of Russia’s secretive 16th Center, a signals intelligence unit specializing in hacking and codebreaking.

Check First said manufacturers and collectors of medals honoring the 16th Center had posted hundreds of pictures of them online.

By carefully analyzing the photos, the company was able to learn previously unknown facts about the unit, such as the locations throughout Russia where it did its work.