Russian police just dismantled a major hacker network that had been plundering businesses for nearly a decade, while half a world away, Indonesia's own police generals got caught using state surveillance systems to wiretap their own president — and Americans should be asking why our FBI can't seem to do either job right.
These two stories, one about actual cops taking down actual cybercriminals and another about cops weaponizing surveillance against the head of state, expose a basic truth: institutions use the tools they have for the priorities they choose. In Russia, that meant busting hackers who stole from companies. In Indonesia, it meant turning the wiretap apparatus inward. In the United States, it has meant investigating school board parents and chasing January 6 protesters while American infrastructure and data get looted daily.
Russian authorities arrested three suspected members of a threat group known as VasyGrek, also called Fluffy Wolf, and dismantled its criminal infrastructure, according to The Hacker News. The group has operated since 2016, targeting Russian and international companies with phishing emails disguised as financial documents. In one September 2025 case highlighted by Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs, attackers sent a phishing email masquerading as business correspondence, tricking recipients into opening a reconciliation report that triggered malware execution. The organization lost 660,000 rubles — roughly $8,000 — stolen from its bank account.
The MVD said the group used "a vast network of phishing domains imitating financial and accounting service websites, as well as virtual servers located in foreign countries" and acquired "tools for covert remote administration" from the dark web. Kaspersky recorded over 100 attempted attacks by VasyGrek against organizations in Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan between January and September 2026, primarily hitting metallurgical firms, wholesale suppliers, government agencies, and entities in healthcare, oil and gas, energy, finance, and agriculture.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, three senior police generals have been detained for allegedly wiretapping President Prabowo Subianto and dozens of other prominent figures, SFGATE reported. The suspects — identified as Presidential Chief of Staff Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, National Police Legal Division head Insp. Gen. Ahrie Sonta Nasution, and Insp. Gen. Eko Hadi Santoso — are accused of illegally intercepting communications, accessing electronic systems without authorization, and deleting electronic data.
The wiretapping allegedly occurred between 2025 and 2026, when Listyo served as National Police chief. According to Asep Safrudin, head of the National Police's Criminal Investigation Agency, the suspects entered telephone numbers into the Lawful Interception Management System without verification and later ordered the deletion of intercepted communications files to conceal evidence. Authorities have not disclosed a motive. The suspects face up to 10 years in prison under Indonesia's new Criminal Code.
Two stories, one lesson. Russian police conducted searches, seized equipment, and took down a hacker ring that had been operating for eight years. Indonesian generals used their own lawful interception system — built to catch criminals — to spy on their own president. Both stories confirm that surveillance tools are only as trustworthy as the people wielding them, and that law enforcement agencies will always pursue what their political masters prioritize.
The open question for Americans: when will our own institutions prioritize protecting citizens' data and infrastructure over policing their speech?
