Security News > 2021 > April > Sanctioned Russian IT Firm Was Partner With Microsoft, IBM
The Treasury Department on Thursday slapped six Russian technology companies with sanctions for supporting Kremlin intelligence agencies engaged in "Dangerous and disruptive cyber attacks."
Only one of them stands out for its international footprint and partnerships with such IT heavyweights as Microsoft and IBM. That company, Positive Technologies, claims more than 2,000 customers in 30 countries, including major European banks Societe Generale and ING, as well as Samsung, SK Telecom of South Korea and BT, the British telecommunications giant.
The CEO of the software industry-supported Internet Research Institute in Moscow, Karen Kazaryan, said he was not familiar with most of the Russian IT companies sanctioned on Thursday.
"Naming specific companies can create incentives for educated and skilled Russians who might be able to obtain jobs elsewhere where they don't support Russian state hacking," he said.
Microsoft would not offer details on the the company's business relationship with Positive Tech but did say it would comply with the sanctions.
Market research firm IDC listed Positive Technologies as one of the fastest-growing companies in security and vulnerability management in 2012, in part because it was so small at the time, growing nearly 82% year-over-year to $30 million in worldwide revenue.