This time it would have been cardiac arrest: Putin’s eavesdropping specialist found dead 30,000 people fleeing degenerate bushfire in Rhodes – including Swiss

Russian IT multimillionaire and Putin’s man for eavesdropping technology, Anton Cherepennikov, has passed away. According to Russian media, he died of cardiac arrest. However, there are unanswered questions about the death of the man who was allegedly the top eavesdropping specialist for the Kremlin ruler. A friend, reports the British “Sun”, has expressed doubts about the performances. The cause of death was reported before an autopsy was performed.

The 40-year-old man was found dead in his Moscow office on Friday. Cherepennikov was the founder of ICS Holding, which included several IT companies. According to media reports, they would have followed large parts of Russian data traffic on the internet. His company Citadel is said to have employed several eavesdropping specialists. The IT oligarch’s company was apparently also responsible for overseeing the “Yarovaya” law.

Spy software has been installed in Russian telecom companies

This obliges Russian telecom companies to keep audio recordings, videos and text files of their customers for six months, the so-called metadata even three years. According to the Russian Telgram channel Baza, Cherepennikov also provided software that had to be installed by the companies. The so-called SORM programs allowed authorities, especially the FSB secret service, to access their data at any time – even without the company’s knowledge. The entrepreneur’s company is said to have made millions in profit.

Cherepennikov was already interested in computers as a teenager and then focused mainly on eSports. Here he was successful for some time with his partner Alexey Kolesnikov, one of the best eSports players in Russia. But then his attention turned to network surveillance, writes the independent Russian news website Meduza. According to their report, Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov also invested in one of his companies.

The US imposed sanctions on Cherepennikov

Cherepennikov was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in February for being “the economic owner and director of Citadel”. According to US authorities, the company has developed software aimed at “stealing financial and personal information from computer networks”. According to reports, ICS Holding has also been linked to Russian security services.

The businessman’s death is one in a string of deaths of Russian oligarchs, businessmen, generals and officials over the past two years. In an article, the British “Sun” listed 40 prominent Russians, some of whom died under unclear circumstances.

Politician Pavel Antow was found dead last December after speaking out against the war in Ukraine. Russia’s Deputy Science Minister Pyotr Kucherenko, who was considered an opponent of Putin, died shortly after returning from Cuba in May. A few days ago, the 64-year-old founder of a Russian food delivery service, Igor Kudryakov, was found dead – according to official information he had succumbed to cancer.

(t-online, when)