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

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.

Comments

Re:Who?

[Anonymous Coward]

The accusation was that KAV could not be trusted because K was in Russia and it was feared the company was infiltrated. Eugene was not credibly personally accused at any point of any crimes or malfeasance. It was a possibility.

Ultimately it appears agents of Russia used the product to find NSA tools by name-matching to known keywords, it wasn't breached so much as it was misused for that purpose. Every system has vulns. AV ops are no different.

But it should be noted that Russian agents were involved in that, albeit not with Eugene's knowledge or aid. So any Trumptards proclaiming this is Russophobia are abject morons proven once more again.

In all likelihood

[nehumanuscrede]

Kaspersky is probably the only company who refuses to look the other way at NSA / CIA born malware and viruses.

If you don't play nice with the spooky types, they make life hell on you in return.

Re:A more accurate headline should have read as...

[mattyj]

Kasperksy Lab is incorporated in the UK, by the way, only HQ'd in Moscow, so the company as a whole can't really be taken over by the Russian government. My guess is that a 20 year old cybersecurity company HQ'd in Russia has the good sense to have their digital assets stored/cloned outside the reach of the government.

It's pretty standard for a cybersecurity outfit to employ former government agents. You know, like all the American ones that have former NSA spooks on the payroll. Standard operating procedure because that's where the best people come from.

Maybe it all just a front, but I'm not believing it. Kaspersky Labs has had a pretty stellar reputation for a very long time now.

This makes sense

[Miles_O'Toole]

TFA says Kaspersky's tip led to the arrest in 2016 of a security contractor who stole massive amounts of data from the NSA. Their reward was that in 2017, Donald Trump signed legislation banning Kaspersky on government computers, and prohibiting government institutions from buying or installing it on "computers and other devices".

It looks an awful lot like Kaspersky proved in 2016 they were not a tool of the Russian government. Their reward was that less than a year later, Putin reached out through his asset in the White House to punish them for failing to bend over and spread for him.