Russian authorities have arrested and detained Ilya Sachkov, the co-founder and chief executive of Group-IB on charges of treason. A court in Moscow said it had ordered that 35-year-old Ilya Sachkov be held in custody for two months, but did not provide further details on the authenticity of the charges.
Group-IB, which specializes in preventing cybercrime and ransomware, confirmed that law enforcement raided its officers yesterday but said it did not know the reason for Sachkov’s arrest.
“Group-IB’s team is confident in the innocence of the company’s CEO and his business integrity,” the company said in a statement.
In the statement, Group-IB said that co-founder Dmitry Volkov will run the company in Sachkov’s absence.
“All of Group-IB’s divisions will continue operating as usual,” the statement said.
Dmitry Peskov, president Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, told reporters on Wednesday that Sachkov’s arrest “had nothing to do with the business and investment climate in our country,” according to Interfax.
“He was in a grey area because of the industry he worked in. The secret services consider cybersecurity to be part of their territory. So either he crossed a line, or he crossed somebody’s interests,” said a person who has worked with Sachkov.