On Sept. 28 Russian authorities arrested Ilya Sachkov, the 35 year-old founder and CEO of a leading Russian cybersecurity company, under “state treason” charges.
The news sent a chill through the IT and business community, as it followed recent cases involving prominent tech entrepreneurs and investors in Russia — from US private equity investor Michael Calvey and his executive team, to RVC head Alexander Povalko, to former minister and investor Mikhail Abyzov, to name just a few.
Sachkov has been involved in information security since his school years. He founded Group-IB in 2003, while still a student, and led it to a prominent position on the international cybersecurity scene. Supporting international investigations against cybercrime and enjoying a variety of awards and recommendations, the company is a partner of Interpol and Europol and a member of the World Economic Forum. Group-IB also works with Russian organizations from both the private and government sectors.
A member of expert committees or working groups at Council of Europe, the OSCE and the World Economic Forum, Sachkov is also well connected with Russia’s top business and political circles. The young businessman is in expert committees of the State Duma and the Foreign ministry; he met President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin several times.
EWDN offers below a selection of news stories and analysis around Sachkov’s arrest, which has been subject to various interpretations, and its significance.
- Reuters: Russia arrests top cybersecurity executive in treason case (Sept. 29, 2021)
- Press release: Group-IB confident in the innocence of Ilya Sachkov; co-founder Dmitry Volkov to assume leadership of the company (Sept. 29, 2021)
- The Bell: The most popular theories about Ilya Sachkov’s arrest (Oct. 4, 2021)
- Meduza podcast: Western pundits comment on the Sachkov case (Oct. 5, 2021)
- Financial Times: Russia sends warning to cyber security sector with arrest of Ilya Sachkov (Oct. 13, 2021)
- Forbes Russia: “I am neither a traitor nor a spy” – Sachov’s letter to President Putin (in Russian, Nov. 23, 2021)
