Russian Cybersecurity Chief Klyushin Could Face Charges for Interfering in US Election

Vladislav Klyushin, the founder of a Russian cybersecurity company, has been accused of interfering with the Kremlin in the 2016 US election, his lawyer, Oliver Ciric, reported. 

Klyushin was arrested in Switzerland in March while on vacation with his family. He was arrested on charges of hacking into American companies and stealing data. FBI investigators accused him and his associates of stealing confidential data from American companies and using it to make millions in the stock market. He is currently being held in a high-security prison in Switzerland.

The Swiss Calvary 

Under Swiss law, it is illegal to extradite a person from Switzerland if they are accused of a political crime. So the US Department of Justice has requested his extradition on the grounds of data hacking.

Meanwhile, Klyushin's legal team is fighting the extradition request on the grounds of the political nature of the data hacking.

Switzerland had agreed to Klyushin's extradition in June, but the legal team is still fighting their decision in its highest court.

Connection with the Kremlin 

Vladislav Klyushin is the founder of the company M13, which provides cybersecurity services to Russia and the Kremlin's government bodies. He is believed to be close to Alexei Gromov, the Kremlin's administrative official responsible for media control.

Gromov, 61, was sanctioned by the US in April for attempting to "exacerbate tensions in the United States by discrediting the 2020 US election process."

Russia's unsuccessful attempt 

Russia's efforts to secure Vladislav's extradition to his home country have been unsuccessful. Russia's offer to Switzerland was recently rejected. The reasons given are still unknown, but according to the Swiss, "the facts described in the request are not punishable under Swiss law."

Although Klyushin has not been publicly charged by the U.S. with hacking, one of the GRU agents indicted by the U.S. court is also a co-defendant in the insider trading case, according to a copy of a statement provided to The Times by a source. Ivan Yermakov, 35, is said by Washington to be a member of the Fancy Bear hacking group, a GRU cyber unit that is also suspected of targeting the German and Norwegian parliaments, as well as NATO. He is also a senior official with Klyushin’s M13 company, Ciric said. He is believed to be in Moscow.

The MI3 company was recently awarded a 295 million rouble (£2.9 million) state contract to monitor messaging services and social media for discussions of a political nature, including opposition groups, in the run-up to next month's parliamentary elections, the Open Media website reported.

The charges against Vladislav Klyushin 

The US has indicted Vladislav Klyushin and his associates for hacking into the computers of Democratic Party officials and state election administrators.

The investigation was conducted by the American cybersecurity team CrowdStrike, and allegations of Russian involvement soon followed. The firm concluded that Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear, hacker groups affiliated with Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service and GRU military intelligence, were involved.

In 2018, special counsel Robert Mueller filed charges in Washington against 12 suspected Russian GRU officers for hacking the DNC and the Clinton campaign.