Kaspersky Lab has finally commented on reports that the CEO’s son may have been kidnapped. It told Russian media to stop talking about it.
“Kaspersky Lab calls on the media to stop spreading rumors and speculation about the events related to the family members of Yevgeny Kaspersky,” the firm said in a statement April 22.
Media reports surfaced that Ivan Kaspersky, son of Kaspersky CEO Yevgeny Kaspersky, was missing in Moscow. Russian police, secret service and the Criminal Investigation Department were searching for him starting April 19 after he was reportedly kidnapped on his way to work, Lifenews.ru (Google Translate) reported April 21.
LifeNews (Google Translate) updated its report on April 22 that the younger Kaspersky has been released and was back at home with his mother, Natalya Kaspersky. She is the chairman of Kaspersky Lab.
“For Ivan ransom was paid, the amount is unknown to me, but it appeared that guy’s back,” an anonymous source told LifeNews.
LifeNews claimed in the initial report that the older Kaspersky immediately flew back to Moscow from London where he was attending the Infosec conference after hearing of his son’s kidnapping. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, was skeptical about that report.
“I was chatting to Eugene Kaspersky at about 6 p.m. in London last night. Didn’t mention it, and no sign he was rushing to the airport,” Cluley wrote on Twitter. In a later post, he said a company contact told him that Kaspersky had originally been scheduled to fly back to Moscow at that time.
“Yevgeny Kaspersky is working normally, but he commented that the information being circulated is harmful for the company,” according to the Kaspersky Lab statement.
LifeNews claimed the kidnappers demanded $4.3 million in ransom.
Kaspersky Lab is a major security company headquartered in Russia.