- US federal employees must install an app powered by a Russian-founded software company
- Security researchers discovered external code controlling parts of government app
- Elfsight’s operations in Russia continued to grow despite global geopolitical tensions
The FAA and other federal employees must now install a $1.4 million White House app containing code created by Elfsight, a Russian-founded vendor.
Elfsight was founded in 2016 in the Russian city of Tula by CEO Andrey Yusupov and CTO Vladimir Fedotov.
The company now bills itself as a European software provider headquartered in Andorra, although its original Russian entity remains active and growing.
Business ties that endure
In 2025, the Russian entity reported revenue of approximately 126.5 million rubles, or approximately $1.6 million, an increase of 71% year-on-year.
The company’s headcount has also increased to 61 employees, and job postings show that hiring Russian developers will continue until 2026.
A 2026 job posting sought a Moscow-based support specialist, offering between 60,000 and 100,000 rubles per month for full-time work.
Under Russian law, companies processing user data may be obliged to store this data locally and transmit it to state authorities.
However, an Elfsight customer support specialist claims the company has “never received a request” from Russian authorities regarding user data or access.
Security Review and Data Practices
A network analysis by security firm Atomic Computer found that Elfsight’s servers determine which JavaScript files run in the White House app.
The same session also accepted more than ten cookies from Elfsight, as well as Google DoubleClick ad domains loaded through the YouTube sections of the app.
Olivia Wales, a White House spokeswoman, said the app “does not ask for or collect users’ locations” and called all of its information “safe and secure.”
A White House official later said that Elfsight’s only remaining script loaded a tax calculator into a sandboxed web view, disconnected from cookies or files.
The official added that Elfsight had passed a comprehensive security review and was widely used by brands such as UFC, FIFA, NBA and Cartier.
This same security clearance sits uneasily alongside documents showing that Elfsight’s founders held accounts in sanctioned Russian banks and continued to travel to Russia.
One of the founders wrote in a private message that Russian tax authorities had summoned him for questioning related to a separate investment platform.
This legal exposure means that a Russia-based vendor still effectively controls the code running in a mandatory application on federal government devices.
Since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict began in 2022, the United States and its allies have imposed sanctions on many Russian companies and individuals.
It remains unclear why an app with such ties to Russia was allowed to be used on White House and federal government devices.
So far, neither Elfsight nor the White House have provided a clear rationale for this approval decision.
Via Newsground
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