Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab is working closely with Russia's intelligence services to collect information from its customers, according to Bloomberg.
A Bloomberg publication states in detail that Kaspersky 2012 has replaced all its senior executives with individuals from the Russian Federation's Federal Security Service (FSB). Six current and former Kaspersky officials said the company provides information to the Russian FSB spy to help with criminal investigations.
In a statement in the Register, the Kaspersky Lab points out that it cooperates with law enforcement authorities around the world, as long as their applications are legal under local and international law. The company also stated that users of its products can choose to send or not send information back to the company.
Two different sources told Bloomberg that chief business officer Garry Kondakov sent an email saying that the company's senior positions were only for the Russians, and that board meetings are now being held in Russian and not in English, as it once was. Kaspersky Lab, says this email has never been.
Eugene Kaspersky, the founder of the software company, was trained at a school of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the KGB (now FSB), and reportedly has at least one regular weekly banya meeting with Russian intelligence officials. Banya is a traditional meeting point for the Russians.
"It is a false statement. Eugene Kaspersky has never met with intelligence officials in banya "or, at least, did not know he was there." "Many other people, including Kaspersky Lab employees from other countries, have been and are frequent visitors to Banya," the company said in a statement.
But according to the founder of the company, all this is a reprisal for his company's publications that revealed the NSA. Kaspersky Lab has released a series of publications for some hacking tools called Equation this year, claiming they are NSA stamped.
However, nothing seems to be clear, and no one knows the truth, except perhaps by those directly involved. We think we are publishing for a reading audience that has the necessary judgment to draw conclusions. And if your conclusions seem risky one is sure:
The internet does not provide security to your information.
The article was updated to add the Kaspersky Lab response that came to us by email.
The email we received reads:
Good evening,
About your "Bloomberg Kaspersky Russian Spy Partner," on behalf of Kaspersky Lab, we would like your article to be added to your article on this issue.
"An article about Kaspersky Lab was published in the Bloomberg Businessweek, which reports significant inaccuracies based on anonymous third party information, supposedly" current and former employees "of the company. This is mainly an opinion article, not a reportage based on specific events, after journalistic research. The position of the company in relation to this publication is reflected in the blog of Eugene Kaspersky, which is available at https://kas.pr/6yFB.»
Thank you for the collaboration.
At your disposal,
George is still wondering what he is doing here….
lawsuit against bloomberg now!