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CheckFirst
@checkfirst.network
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We pioneered algorithm analysis and deploy expert skills to probe the digital space and its actors.

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🇦🇲 In partnership with the @fbafolke.bsky.social, the Swedish agency for peace, security and development, we spent a week in Yerevan, #Armenia, helping Armenian civil society organisations and journalists strengthen their defences against #foreignmanipulation.
A group of trainees huddled at a table with laptops and water bottles, discussing and reviewing material during a workshop with Hervé Letoqueux, Check First's COO.
November 14, 2025 at 3:48 PM
checkfirst.network
👋 On October 15 and 16, we attended #Disinfo2025, the @disinfo.eu's annual conference. This year, over 600 participants gathered in Ljubljana, Slovenia, for two days of discussions centered around many aspects of #disinformation.
#Disinfo2025 conference, before the overture panel.
October 27, 2025 at 10:35 AM
checkfirst.network
Next week, we'll be heading to Ljubljana to attend @disinfo.eu's #Disinfo2025!

Shivika Sharma, our senior manager specialising in digital threats and policy, will present @radar.checkfirst.network during the “Turning data into evidence” roundtable on 16 October.
Shivika Sharma, Senior Manager, Digital Threats and Policy at Check First. She'll be speaking at #Disinfo2025 during a panel on 16 October.
October 8, 2025 at 7:47 AM
checkfirst.network
If you have any questions about this report, please write to us at info[a]checkfirst[dot]network. Thanks for reading!
While much remains to be explored regarding 16th Center's precise operations, this study paves the way for further research on Russia's security agencies operating in Russia and abroad, including those engaged in intelligence-gathering in Ukraine and European countries. Want to know more about this story? Contact us: info@checkfirst.network
July 18, 2025 at 7:36 AM
checkfirst.network
Each interception centre also has a unique way of depicting itself through its insignia, as can be seen in these two examples from our report.
Unit 03110 (1975): The oldest insignia linked to this unit features symbols such as tropical palms and a flag that confirm that it was previously stationed in Lourdes (Cuba), before being relocated close to Sotchi (Russia) in the late 2000s. Among the ten bases we have identified, this one is the only one that equipped its antennas with radomes designed to protect the equipment from weather and hide its orientation and specifications from unwanted eyes. These domes, which may contain a radar or a dish antenna, are even depicted on one of the unit's insignia, which also portrays the facility facing the sea, with mountains in the background. Unit 61608 (1918): The unit's insignia frequently feature symbolic representations of Moscow, including the Kremlin. The unit hosts more than a dozen parabolic antennas near the T-shaped control building, as well as pole antennas arranged in an antenna array slightly further north. It is situated south of Tsaritsyno Park, concealed within a dense forest in the heart of Moscow.
July 18, 2025 at 7:36 AM
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Thanks to phaleristics, we were able to gain insight into the unit's current
symbolism.
How the 16th Center depicts itself: The standard format of the shield and sword, symbols inherited from the KGB ; The Russian coat of arms (a double-headed eagle clutching a scepter and an orb surmounted by a cross, representing imperial authority and the Orthodox Church, respectively) ; A red background, a colour traditionally associated with the FSB. The Center portrays itself in two distinct ways: A terrestrial globe featuring the Russian Cyrillic letter "i". This letter is commonly associated with the Russian word "information" in Soviet and Russian security services, and could be a reference to the information the unit is capable of acquiring ; An antenna positioned next to a key being shattered by a lightning bolt. The antenna is a fairly common symbol of radio transmissions, but is also used to represent signals intelligence (SIGINT). The lightning bolt symbolizes the interception, disruption, and manipulation of enemy communications and radar systems. The key shattered by the lightning bolt is highly likely an explicit reference to cryptanalysis, the branch of cryptography dedicated to breaking codes and cryptographic systems.
July 18, 2025 at 7:36 AM
checkfirst.network
To unveil the infrastructure of the 16th Center, we employed a combination of unusual and traditional OSINT techniques. Our primary sources were hundreds of photographs of Russian insignia available on specialised websites.
For over a year, we have collected and analyzed hundreds of photographs of military insignia linked to the 16th Center of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB). We combined phaleristics (i.e. the study of medals, orders, decorations, and related honors issued by states, organizations, and military bodies) and traditional OSINT techniques to get insights into the history of the 16th Center, piece together part of its internal structure, and geolocate several of its interception centers within Russia. During our research, we identified: 40 distinct insignia corresponding to different departments ("upravleniya") within the 16th Center. 10 departments within the 16th Center with at least 560 employees. 10 SIGINT stations composing a ground-based network highly likely operated by the 16th Center. These "Special Communications Centers" (TsSS) are designated either by a five-digit identifier or a number.
July 18, 2025 at 7:36 AM
checkfirst.network
Today, we are proud to publish our latest investigation into the FSB’s 16th Center, publicly accused of operating some of Russia's most sophisticated cyber-espionage groups.
🔗 checkfirst.network/decoding-se...
Cover of our research "Decoding Secrets With Medals: How Military Insignia Revealed Russia’s Hidden SIGINT Network"
July 18, 2025 at 7:36 AM
checkfirst.network
🔴 NEW REPORT
Alongside ‪@reset.tech‬, we publish our third investigation into Operation Overload. ⤵️
Our cover depicting "Operation Overload", featuring a blurry silhouette alongside screenshots and laptops.
June 26, 2025 at 7:57 AM
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🗣️ "The goal of Operation Overload is to use you, the fact-checkers, to amplify their narrative."

Today our CTO Amaury was in Brussels for the inaugural #EFCSNConference. He spoke to the fact-checking community about Operation Overload ( 🔎 checkfirst.network/operation-ov...).
October 29, 2024 at 4:00 PM
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🇫🇮 On Wednesday, our CEO @g.checkfirst.network st.network met with Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission, presenting key lessons from our CrossOver project in Finland with @faktabaari.bsky.social.

📷 Alessandro Rampazzo/Copyright: European Union, 2024/EC - Audiovisual Service
February 29, 2024 at 8:41 AM
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🔔 Save the date: 14 March. Join our CEO @g.checkfirst.network for an insightful webinar with @aa.disinfo.eu @disinfo.eu on the Finnish far right's presence and visibility on social media platforms in the lead-up to the country's presidential elections.
🔗 Sign up here:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
February 16, 2024 at 1:57 PM
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As we embrace the onset of 2024, a year that holds the destiny of many with votes in at least 64 countries (plus the EU), the imperative for transparency and accountability from major platforms has never been more crucial.
January 4, 2024 at 9:49 AM
checkfirst.network
Yesterday our CEO Guillaume Kuster gave a talk at the OIF headquarters in Paris about our project CrossOver, and
@obsint.eu.

CrossOver tracks and measures the impact of content recommendation algorithms on social media. @obsint.eu offers guidelines for public interest #OSINT investigations.
November 10, 2023 at 8:59 AM
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Best practices for #OSINT investigations, where to find them and how to apply them. Mattia Caniglia presents ObSINT guidelines. Very proud to have helped designing these guidelines for the community. Give us your feedback obsint.eu #Disinfo2023 @dfrlab.bsky.social
October 12, 2023 at 9:16 AM
checkfirst.network
@Meta identifies phases of an online operation which all present vulnerabilities allowing actors to act against malicious actors. #Disinfo2023
October 12, 2023 at 7:22 AM
checkfirst.network
Transparency is no silver bullet - John Albert, Algorithm Watch
"Companies have been backsliding on particular commitments to transparency" #Disinfo2023
October 11, 2023 at 2:16 PM
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➡️ Ethical and reliable #Osint ⬅️

Main takeaway from the presentation of the ObSINT guidelines our CTO @theal.bsky.social and @ineswnarciso.bsky.social did yesterday at #osintsummit2023
September 23, 2023 at 8:39 AM