The Other Sochi Threat: Russian Spies, Mobsters Hacking Your Smartphones

By: James Gordon Meek | ABC NEWS

While the world focuses on the threat of terrorism to the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia this month, spectators in the Black Sea town will face a stealthier threat to their digital lives from Russian spies and tech savvy mobsters, experts and security sources told ABC News.

Russian law allows its intelligence agents to do electronic snooping on anyone inside the country, meaning the phones and personal computers of thousands of foreign visitors, including Americans, are fair game. But even outside of the law, Russian organized crime groups also are well known for hacking smartphones and email for information they use for illicit profit.