Kaspersky Lab mum on kidnapping report

The 20-year-old son of CEO Eugene Kaspersky was kidnapped on his way to work on Tuesday, according to a report.

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer

Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.

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Elinor Mills

April 21, 2011 2:34 p.m. PT

A spokesman for Moscow-based antivirus company Kaspersky Lab said the company is not commenting on reports that the son of Chief Executive Eugene Kaspersky has been kidnapped.

"We don't have any information to share at the moment. I'll let you know if that changes," the spokesman said in an e-mail to CNET today.

Ivan Kaspersky, 20, was reportedly kidnapped Tuesday morning on his way to work at InfoWatch, a company owned by his mother, Natalya Kaspersky, according to the English version of Pravda.ru, which cites Russian language site LifeNews. Later that day, someone called the father on the phone and demanded $4.3 million, the report says.

The younger Kaspersky is a fourth-year student of mathematics and cybernetics at Moscow State University.