Oxygen Forensics Software Linked to EU Projects
The digital extraction tool saw use in multi-year EU investigative projects before police agencies across Europe adopted it.
Updated on Sept. 28, 2026 in Cybersecurity
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Oxygen Forensics participated in European Union-funded digital evidence projects between 2014 and 2023. These initiatives utilized the company's software for forensic data extraction and analysis.
Why it matters
The retrospective involvement highlights how forensic software developed in Russia became integrated into European national police agency toolkits prior to broader international scrutiny of the company's management.
The EVIDENCE project received over €1.9 million in EU funding, while the INSPECTr project, which relied on Oxygen software for evidence extraction, operated until 2023.
The players
Oxygen Forensics
A developer of digital forensic software tools used by law enforcement for data extraction and mobile device analysis.
Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov
The director of software development for Oxygen Forensics as identified by the U.S. Justice Department.
The details
The EVIDENCE project, which ran from 2014 to 2016, consulted with Oxygen Forensics on protocols for handling digital criminal evidence. The subsequent INSPECTr project integrated the company's software to allow investigators to access data extracted from seized devices. The U.S. Justice Department has since identified Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov as the director of the software development team based in Russia.
Timeline
2014-2016: The EVIDENCE project operated and received EU funding.
2023: The INSPECTr project concluded its operations.
The Tech Race
The integration of Oxygen Forensics into the EU-funded INSPECTr project underscores a period where European police agencies prioritized specialized mobile forensic access tools. This reliance sits in contrast to increasing concerns regarding the geographic origin of software development teams in critical digital infrastructure.
European national police agencies in Germany, Spain, Italy, and Poland previously adopted these tools for digital evidence workflows. Users of forensic-grade extraction software should note that institutional procurement of such tools often involves long-term dependencies on specific software stacks.
The takeaway
The deployment of these forensic tools demonstrates the historical intersection of EU investigative infrastructure with foreign-managed software development. Stakeholders should monitor further disclosure requirements from the U.S. Justice Department regarding foreign-developed software used in law enforcement.
Further reading
Explore deeper into state-aligned digital tool procurement in our Cybersecurity section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by POLITICO.
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