Kaspersky Antivirus Son Freed in High-Risk Scheme

Late last week Russian police investigated the abduction of Kaspersky Antivirus founder Eugene Kaspersky's 20-year old son, Ivan. Reports now say that a high-risk scheme by law enforcement officials was successful in freeing the young man.

Ivan Kaspersky Kidnapped, Held Ransom for $4.3 Million

Early last week Ivan Kaspersky, who is training to be a programmer and currently attends school at Moscow State University, was kidnapped while on his way to work at InfoWatch, a tech firm owned by his mother, Natalya Kaspersky.

Ivan is the son of Eugene (or Yevgeny) Kaspersky, founder of the extremely popular Kaspersky Lab security firm, which provides anti-malware and anti-virus protection to home, business and government users around the world. Eugene Kaspersky, who is the public face of Kaspersky Lab and has been awarded several state awards for the reliability of his company's products, is said to be worth around $800 million.

Risky Ploy by Police Pays Off

Reports from the Russian media say that the police set up a meeting with the kidnappers. Law enforcement officials reportedly told the hostage-takers that they would get their ransom ($4.3 million) in an exchange with people they assured would not be police. That was a lie, however, as police posed as middlemen and then arrested the kidnappers. (Source: cnet.com)

Kaspersky Lab, which initially refused to comment on the situation, has since announced that Ivan is free. "He has been freed without ransom," the company told Interfax news agency. (Source: bbc.co.uk)

There hasn't yet been any announcement on who the kidnappers were or how the exchange went so awry for them.