- Sep 22, 2014
- 1,767
A Kaspersky manager has been arrested by Russian authorities alongside a senior Russian FSB intelligence officer, both facing treason charges.
Ruslan Stoyanov, head of the computer incidents investigations unit at Kaspersky, was arrested back in December, but information was not made public until local Kommersant newspaper published a report.
Maria Shirokova, Kaspersky’s spokeswoman, quoted by the Associated Press, denies that Stoyanov's arrest has anything to do with the company’s operations and claims the company has very little details regarding the charges the former manager faces. She did admit the fact that the investigation dates back to when Stoyanov was still hired by Kaspersky. Previously, according to his LinkedIn profile, he was also part of the Cyber Crime Unit of the Interior Ministry in Russia, but that was more than a decade ago.
The AP further quotes Andrei Soldatov, an investigative journalist that has specialized in the Internet and Russian security service, who says the arrest of the Kaspersky manager has no precedent. He goes on to explain that this is a system they’ve worked on for twenty years, building relations between intelligence agencies and cyber security firms such as Kaspersky. “Intelligence agencies used to ask for Kaspersky’s advice, and this is how informal ties were built. This romance is clearly over,” he said.
The most interesting part of this arrest is that Stoyanov is being accused of treason, which isn’t a light allegation.
International friction because of Russian hacking
In recent months, there have been many accusations made against Russia, whom the US accused of meddling in its elections, which resulted in Donald Trump becoming president. Russia has denied such claims, as it was expected. Obama went as far as to eject 35 Russian diplomats from US grounds after seeing reports from the country’s intelligence agencies. EU officials have also expressed concern over Russia’s habit of hacking other Western institutions, especially as 2017 is an election year in Germany, the Netherlands, and France.
It is unclear at this point if there’s any connection between the arrest of Stoyanov and the FSB agent Sergei Mikhailov.
Ruslan Stoyanov, head of the computer incidents investigations unit at Kaspersky, was arrested back in December, but information was not made public until local Kommersant newspaper published a report.
Maria Shirokova, Kaspersky’s spokeswoman, quoted by the Associated Press, denies that Stoyanov's arrest has anything to do with the company’s operations and claims the company has very little details regarding the charges the former manager faces. She did admit the fact that the investigation dates back to when Stoyanov was still hired by Kaspersky. Previously, according to his LinkedIn profile, he was also part of the Cyber Crime Unit of the Interior Ministry in Russia, but that was more than a decade ago.
The AP further quotes Andrei Soldatov, an investigative journalist that has specialized in the Internet and Russian security service, who says the arrest of the Kaspersky manager has no precedent. He goes on to explain that this is a system they’ve worked on for twenty years, building relations between intelligence agencies and cyber security firms such as Kaspersky. “Intelligence agencies used to ask for Kaspersky’s advice, and this is how informal ties were built. This romance is clearly over,” he said.
The most interesting part of this arrest is that Stoyanov is being accused of treason, which isn’t a light allegation.
International friction because of Russian hacking
In recent months, there have been many accusations made against Russia, whom the US accused of meddling in its elections, which resulted in Donald Trump becoming president. Russia has denied such claims, as it was expected. Obama went as far as to eject 35 Russian diplomats from US grounds after seeing reports from the country’s intelligence agencies. EU officials have also expressed concern over Russia’s habit of hacking other Western institutions, especially as 2017 is an election year in Germany, the Netherlands, and France.
It is unclear at this point if there’s any connection between the arrest of Stoyanov and the FSB agent Sergei Mikhailov.
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