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Security Firm Kaspersky, Which Has Been Accused by US of Working With Russian Spies, Helped Catch an Alleged NSA Data Thief

Posted by msmash on from the stranger-things dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: The 2016 arrest of a former National Security Agency contractor charged with a massive theft of classified data began with an unlikely source: a tip from a Russian cybersecurity firm that the U.S. government has called a threat to the country. Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab turned Harold T. Martin III in to the NSA after receiving strange Twitter messages in 2016 from an account linked to him, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation. They spoke with POLITICO on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to discuss the case.

The company's role in exposing Martin is a remarkable twist in an increasingly bizarre case that is believed to be the largest breach of classified material in U.S. history. It indicates that the government's own internal monitoring systems and investigators had little to do with catching Martin, who prosecutors say took home an estimated 50 terabytes of data from the NSA and other government offices over a two-decade period, including some of the NSA's most sophisticated and sensitive hacking tools. The revelation also introduces an ironic turn in the negative narrative the U.S. government has woven about the Russian company in recent years.

6 of 85 comments (clear)

  1. Who? by sexconker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Who actually believes the accusations against Kaspersky?

    1. Re:Who? by duke_cheetah2003 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Who actually believes the accusations against Kaspersky?

      I do. And only because... why wouldn't they? There's no reason I can conjure up that would plausibly explain how Kapersky is not in bed with the FSB.

      To think they aren't is folly. We know the Russian government loves to play all sorts of under the table games with just about every other country on the earth. That they wouldn't leverage software publishers within their sphere against other countries is just naive. Of course they would. Wouldn't you?

    2. Re:Who? by mattyj · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is the worst reasoning. You sound like one of those "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about" guys re: the Surveillance State.

      Kaspersky has had a stellar reputation in the community for two decades. They've consistently been one of the top cybersecurity researchers in the world.

      That being said, who knows, maybe Putin has an office at their HQ, but all this FUD without a shred of evidence whatsoever isn't helping anything.

    3. Re:Who? by khchung · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Who actually believes the accusations against Kaspersky?

      I do. And only because... why wouldn't they?

      Then use the same logic to believe that the US lied about Kaspersky, because... why wouldn't they?

      --
      Oliver.
  2. A more accurate headline should have read as... by bogaboga · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Security Firm Kaspersky, Which Has Been Accused by US of Working With Russian Spies, Helped Catch an Alleged NSA Data Thief

    Security Firm Kaspersky, Which Has Been Accused by US of Working With Russian Spies with no evidence furnished thus far, Helped Catch an Alleged NSA Data Thief

  3. Nobody said they were willing participants. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Nobody has claimed Kaspersky was a willing or even witting participant in the event, only that they were a participant. As such, it's fully within the rights of the US government to deem their software on US government systems to be a threat and to advise employees to not use it.

    On the other hand, what better way to sow seeds of self-doubt than to sacrifice a pawn?

    There are a couple reasons to trust them but far more numerous and more compelling reasons to distrust them.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.