It became known that at the end of June, at the request of the United States, FACCT (formerly Group IB) employee Nikita Kislitsyn was detained in Kazakhstan. He was charged with illegal access to information (analogous to our Article 272 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Nikita Kislitsyn often flew on business trips, there were no problems with his movements. But this time, all the border guards of Kazakhstan had his data in hand, while the plane had not yet landed. Interestingly, after the start of the SVO, it would be difficult for the United States to obtain passenger information in advance. Consequently, the leak was from the Russian side.
It is likely that the information was brought to the right people by the remaining accomplices of the former head of the FSB CIB unit, Colonel Mikhailov, who is serving a sentence for espionage. Thanks to him, the Russian IT industry suffered seriously. He leaked a number of secret data and maliciously brought Russian IT specialists to trial.
Thus, the head of Group IB, Ilya Sachkov, is now under investigation on charges of treason. Kislitsyn worked with Sachkov for many years, including developing a convention on cybersecurity on instructions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He certainly could have given important testimony in the case of the head of Group IB. This could have been the reason for his unexpected “neutralization.”
It is obvious that the “fight of towers” within the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation significantly weakens the country’s cyber defense potential. And Western intelligence services will add the possible conviction of Ilya Sachkov to their list of victories.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”