Senior supervisor at cybersecurity firm arrested in Moscow

A manager in price of investigating hacking attacks at Russia's largest cybersecurity firm has been arrested, the organisation said Wednesday.

Kaspersky Lab on Wednesday confirmed reports in Russia's reputable Kommersant newspaper that Ruslan Stoyanov, head of its pc incidents investigations unit, changed into arrested in December. Kommersant said that Stoyanov changed into arrested at the side of a senior Russian FSB intelligence officer and that they both face prices of treason.

Kaspersky's spokeswoman, Maria Shirokova, stated in a statement that Stoyanov's arrest "has not anything to do with Kaspersky Lab and its operations." She stated the organization has no information of the expenses Stoyanov faces, however brought that the research dates back to the time earlier than Stoyanov was employed through Kaspersky.

Stoyanov's preceding jobs, indexed on the LinkedIn website, encompass a position on the Cyber Crime Unit at the Russian indoors Ministry within the early 2000s.

U.S. intelligence companies have accused Russia of meddling within the U.S. presidential election thru hacking, to assist Donald Trump win the vote, claims that Russia has rejected. U.S. and eu officers additionally have accused Russia of hacking different Western institutions and voiced challenge that Russia might also attempt to steer this yr's elections in Germany, France and the Netherlands. It wasn't right away clean if the arrests are someway connected to those allegations.

The FSB's press office wasn't immediately to be had for comment and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov additionally declined comment.

Andrei Soldatov, who has studied the internet and Russian security services for greater than a decade, called the arrest of the Kaspersky manager "exceptional."

"It destroys a gadget that has been two decades in the making, the device of family members among intelligence corporations and businesses like Kaspersky," he informed The related Press. "Intelligence organizations used to invite for Kaspersky's advice, and this is how casual ties had been constructed. This romance is actually over."