Ruslan Stoyanov, head of Kaspersky investigation lab in Russia was arrested in December 2016 on charges of treason.
The news was first reported by Russian newspaper Kommersant. The Russian publication also stated that the head of Russian Intelligence Service, Sergei Mikhailov was also arrested in the same probe for receiving bribe from an unknown foreign organization to share data on Russian hacking.
Kaspersky is Russia's largest antivirus provider and the arrest has taken many security researchers by surprise.
Stoyanov's LinkedIn profile shows that he joined Kaspersky Lab in 2012. Prior to that, he held the position of a major in the cybercrime unit of Russian Ministry of Interior for six years, from 2000 to 2006.
A press release from Kaspersky stated that in 2015, Stoyanov worked with the Russian law enforcement on a case leading to "Russia's largest cybercriminal arrest." The mission resulted in the arrest of 50 people involved in the theft of $50 million.
Kaspersky officials confirmed in an official statement that the case does not involve the company and Stoyanov is being investigated for a period before he joined Kaspersky Lab.
"We do not possess details of the investigation. The work of Kaspersky Lab's Computer Incidents investigation Team is unaffected by these developments," notes the statement from Kaspersky.
Charges Of Treason
Stoyanov, in the past 15 months had written three posts for Kaspersky Lab's Securelist blog. All the three blogs dealt with the topic of financially motivated crime taking place in Russia.
Charges against Stoyanov have been filed under Article 275 of Russia's Criminal Code. The article details high treason in the form of espionage, revelation of state secrets, assisting a foreign nation, organization or its representatives in any way that is dangerous to the external security of Russian Federation.
A violation of Article 275 could carry a prison sentence of 12 to 20 years per the Russian criminal code and capital punishments decree.
Kaspersky officials were quoted saying that cybercrime cannot be handled without effective collaboration between private companies working in computer security and law enforcement. They also noted that Kaspersky wholeheartedly cooperates with security experts around the world and different law enforcement ministries to effectively address cybercrime.
Both the cases are currently in pre-trial detention and most of the details remain unavailable for public and media. There has been no clear indication on what kind of data has been shared and who this "foreign organization" may be.
Photo: David Orban | Flickr
