The former editor-in-chief of the “Hacker” magazine was detained in Kazakhstan at the request of the USA

Russian Nikita Kyslytsyn, former editor-in-chief of Hacker magazine and top manager of the FACCT company, was detained in Kazakhstan at the request of the United States. This is a cybersecurity software developer and successor to Group-IB.

Kyslytsyn was detained on June 22, but the Russian mass media reported on it only today. The FACCT company noted that the authorities of Kazakhstan are studying grounds for extradition to the United States.

The company clarified that the claims against Kyslytsyn are related to events 10 years ago, when he worked as a journalist, and there are no legal grounds for his detention in Kazakhstan.

The Consulate General of Russia in Alma-Ata asked Kazakhstan to refrain from the accelerated extradition of Kyslytsyn to Washington.

In Russia, Kyslytsyn was arrested in absentia in a case of illegal access to information.

In 2020, the US Ministry of Justice accused Nikita Kyslytsyn of conspiring to sell data stolen by his accomplice from the Formspring social network in 2012.

The charges against Kislytsyn were brought forward as part of the investigation by the American special services into the case of the Russian hacker Evgeny Nikulin. He was detained in Prague in 2016 and extradited to the USA. The American court sentenced Nikulin to seven years in prison on charges of cybercrime.

Kyslytsyn did not get to present the accused in this case. He cooperated with the FBI, testified against Russian hackers. According to the American investigators, they could cooperate with the Russian special services.

In Group-IB, where Kislytsyn worked, the accusations were called unsubstantiated.

• In 2006–2012, Kislytsyn headed the magazine Hacker, devoted to information security. In January 2013, Kislytsyn got a job at Group-IB, a cybersecurity company founded by Ilya Sachkov.
• Sachkov himself is in the “Lefortovo” pre-trial detention center in the case of treason and was arrested at the end of September 2021. The details of his case are classified. Sachkov does not admit guilt in treason. The court will begin hearing his case on July 6.
• Group-IB (now FACTT) is one of the leading Russian companies in the field of computer security. Among its clients are the largest Russian banks, including Sberbank, “Tinkoff” and Alfa-Bank, and the state corporation “Rostech”, the group advises Russian special services and Interpol. The group participated in conducting international investigations in the field of cybercrime.