Anything from porn to secret databases is openly for sale at Savyolovsky market in downtown Moscow. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)
Russian Secrets For Sale, No Questions Asked -- L.A. Times
At Moscow's Savyolovsky Market, anyone can buy discs filled with information hacked or leaked from government databases. Reporters or hit men, it really doesn't matter.
They are selling secrets along the shining corridors of the Savyolovsky Market: Unlisted numbers. Tax returns. Customs declarations. Wanted lists. Police reports. Car registrations. Business permits.
Wrenched from the bowels of government by the forces of runaway capitalism and corruption, the hush-hush databases have made their way to this market in central Moscow where the windows of tiny shops glitter with cellphones, pirated DVDs and porn.
Compressed on discs, frozen in Cyrillic letters, is a trove of petty squabbles and personal tragedies that make up the fabric of this vast and often lawless land.
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My Comment: I have browsed through Savyolovsky market on numerous occasions. While this "market place" is well known to foreigners, it is just one of many locations in which information and databases can be freely exchanged or purchase. Bottom line .... if I was in the CIA, I would not be interested in planting spies in the government or military, I would just subcontract the work out to Russian hackers and information junkies for the information that I need.
And trust me .... in Russia there are now many who are available to do anything .... at any price.
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