14 DAY TRIAL // Officials have confirmed that Ivan Kaspersky, the son of Kaspersky Lab founders Eugene and Natalya Kaspersky, was kidnapped and then rescued after authorities laid a trap for those responsible.
The young man, a fourth-year student of mathematics and cybernetics at Moscow State University, disappeared on April 19.
Two days later Russian media reported that he was kidnapped while on his way to work by a group of individuals who asked his father for a €3 million ($4.3m) ransom.
Ivan works for InfoWatch, a company headed by his mother, whose offices are located in an industrial area in north-west Moscow.
Eugene Kaspersky, who’s personal fortune is estimated at $800 million flew home from London on Wednesday to help free his son.
Kaspersky, a cryptographer schooled at the KGB’s Institute of Cryptography, Telecommunications and Computer Science, is rumored to have a lot of influence with Russian law enforcement officials.
The Russian secret service (FSB) together with the Moscow police immediately started looking for Ivan and it seems that on Thursday, two days after his kidnapping, they hit a break.
Russian news website Life News reported that Ivan was freed after an undisclosed ransom was paid, but according to a statement released by Kaspersky Lab that’s not true.
"Kaspersky Lab confirms that an operation to free Ivan Kaspersky was carried out successfully by the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Criminal Investigation Department of the Moscow Police and Kaspersky Lab's own security personnel.
"Ivan is alive and well and is currently located at a safe location. No ransom was paid during the rescue operation. Eugene Kaspersky and Natalya Kaspersky are currently unavailable for comment," the company told The Tech Herald.
According to Reuters, the authorities managed to mislead the kidnappers and secure Ivan’s freedom. Five suspects were arrested following the operation.
Update April 27, 2011: Corrected an error where 20-year-old Ivan Kaspersky was incorrectly described as a teenager.