Former network security chief arrested: diplomatic dilemma for Kazakhstan

Nikita Kislitsyn, the former head of network security for a major Russian cybersecurity firm, was arrested last week in Kazakhstan following hacking allegations dating back 10 years by the US Department of Justice. Experts believe Kislitsin's trial could soon create a diplomatic impasse for Kazakhstan's government, as the Kremlin is already indicating its intention to prevent his extradition to the United States. Kislitsin is accused of hacking into defunct social networking site Formspring in 2012 and plotting with another Russian man convicted of stealing tens of millions of usernames and passwords from LinkedIn and Dropbox that same year.

Suspected past and incriminating connections

In March 2020, the DOJ released two criminal hacking charges against Kislitsyn, who was then head of security at Group-IB, a cybersecurity firm founded in Russia in 2003 and operating there for over a decade before moving to Singapore. . The 2014 allegations involved Kislitsyn's alleged role in the theft of account data from Formspring. According to documents made public in the California case, Kislitsyn conspired with Yevgeniy Nikulin, a Russian convicted in 2020 of stealing 117 million usernames and passwords from Dropbox, Formspring and LinkedIn in 2012. Nikulin is currently serving a seven-year sentence in the United States prison system.

Change of course and new assignments

Kislitsyn was hired by Group-IB in January 2013, nearly six months after the Formspring hack. Group-IB then moved its headquarters to Singapore, and in April 2023 the company announced that it had completely exited the Russian market. Kislitsyn currently works for a Russian organization called FACCT, which stands for "Fight Against Cybercrime Technologies". According to a statement by FACCT, the allegations against Kislitsin are not related to his work at FACCT, but relate to a case over 10 years ago when Nikita worked as a journalist and independent researcher.

The Russian response and future prospects

FACCT said the Kremlin has already intervened in the case and the Russian government argues that Kislitsyn is wanted for criminal offenses in Russia and should instead be deported back to his homeland. This puts Kazakhstan in a complicated situation: it will have to choose between unity with Russia or an alliance with the West. If that happens, Kazakhstan may have to make some very unfortunate decisions. Meanwhile, former CEO and founder of Group-IB, Ilya Sachkov, remains in prison in Russia, awaiting a grotesque trial and an inevitable conviction on treason charges.