Denis Obrezko, who entered a not guilty plea last week in a Boston court on computer crime counts, held a position at the Moscow antivirus company Kaspersky Lab prior to the alleged offenses.

Employees of Russia's Kaspersky Lab work at the company's office in Moscow, Russia October 27, 2017.

(photo credit: REUTERS/MAXIM SHEMETOV)

ByREUTERS

JULY 15, 2026 16:17

A computing specialist now facing hacking accusations in the United States once occupied a senior role at the Moscow-based antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab, based on details from a source with direct knowledge and documents examined by Reuters.

Denis Obrezko, who entered a not guilty plea last week during a Boston hearing on computer-related charges, served as a senior specialist at Kaspersky from 2017 to 2019, according to salary records that surfaced and confirmation from a former coworker. Federal prosecutors stated that Obrezko spent the five years before that working for Russia's internal intelligence agency, the FSB.

While the claimed hacking occurred after his departure from Kaspersky, Obrezko's history is expected to intensify scrutiny of the firm's connections to the Russian state. As one of the top global providers of antivirus solutions, Kaspersky maintained a notable footprint in the United States until worries about its Kremlin links largely excluded it from the American market.

Kaspersky stated that an individual matching the name was employed at the firm from 2017 to 2019 and that it lacks details on the person's present situation. The charges filed cannot be connected to the individual's duties or position while at Kaspersky.

Obrezko's attorney, Max Nemtsev, indicated in an email that he could not address Obrezko's work background. The FSB was unavailable for comment. The Russian Embassy in Washington has not replied to multiple inquiries regarding Obrezko's situation. Russia routinely rejects involvement in hacking operations.

Technical school connections to hacking

Reuters was unable to pinpoint Obrezko's precise duties at Kaspersky throughout his time there. A profile on the Russian social platform VKontakte linked to one of his email addresses lists him as an alumnus of Moscow's Bauman University, a technical institution that a group of European journalists last year flagged as a primary training site for Russian state hackers. His focus was information security, per the VKontakte profile and resume information that leaked and was reviewed by Reuters.

Bauman University did not respond to a request for comment.

Void Blizzard hacking operation

Prosecutors' filings accuse Obrezko of involvement in a recently identified hacking collective called Void Blizzard or Laundry Bear. The group is said to have executed widespread theft of emails and other data from NATO-aligned European government bodies and at least 11 US firms on behalf of the Russian government starting in 2023.

A US indictment filed last week links Void Blizzard to a Russian cybersecurity firm named Yutek-NN, where Obrezko served as deputy director beginning in 2024. The indictment omitted any reference to Obrezko's earlier ties to Kaspersky, which are disclosed here for the first time.

Yutek presents itself on its site as a versatile IT provider that employs advanced technology, novel ideas, and inventive design. Russian business filings indicate that the Nizhny Novgorod-based company holds an FSB license to create, market, or obtain special technical tools for the secret gathering of information.

Yutek did not reply to repeated requests for comment.

Stefan Soesanto, a lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Switzerland, described the case against Obrezko as a validation for those already deeply skeptical of Kaspersky.

Kaspersky has consistently maintained its autonomy from the Kremlin, yet the US Commerce Department prohibited its software in 2024 due to security issues, and European officials have issued cautions about the company.

Soesanto noted that boundaries between the cybersecurity sector and intelligence agencies are often thin, and movement between the two would not be exclusive to Kaspersky.

It closely mirrors the US approach, except that Russians rarely bring charges against former American intelligence operatives, he said.