kompromat
mass noun

- Compromising information collected for use in blackmailing, discrediting, or manipulating someone, typically for political purposes.

Oxford Dictionaries

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ORIGIN

In Russian culture, kompromat, short for "compromising material" (Russian: компрометирующий материал, translit. komprometiruyushchy material), is damaging information about a politician, a businessperson, or other public figure, used to create negative publicity, as well as for blackmail and extortion. The origins of the term trace back to 1930s secret police jargon.

In the early days, kompromat featured doctored photographs, planted drugs, grainy videos of liaisons with prostitutes hired by the KGB, and a wide range of other primitive entrapment techniques. More contemporary forms of kompromat appear as a form of cybercrime.

One aspect of kompromat that stands the test of time is that the compromising information is often sexual in nature.

Kompromat may be acquired from various security services, or outright forged, and then publicized by use of a public relations official.

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Sources:

Julia Ioffe: How Blackmail Works in Russia. The art of kompromat, a practice that seems to have migrated across the Atlantic. 11. Januar 2017.

Markus M. Haefliger: «Kompromat»-Dossier: Wie im Kalten Krieg Neue Zürcher Zeitung, vom 14. Januar 2017