A US tech firm with close ties to the CIA and the Pentagon used a powerful tool to try to track the movements of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The claim was made by Wired, citing a new book written by Wall Street Journal reporter reporter Byron Tau. As per the book, a company named PlanetRisk reportedly created a tool, originally named Locomotive but later rebranded as VISR* for the purpose. The tool aimed to tap into geolocation data used by digital advertisers and was able to snoop on people close to Putin, gaining information on his whereabouts.