This news follows reports earlier this week that Kaspersky Labs security researcher Ruslan Stoyanov was also arrested for treason in December. Details are also scarce on that arrest, but the security firm says the incident isn't related to Stoyanov's work there. We may never know the exact reasons for the arrests, but the events are certainly notable at a time when tensions are high between the US and Russia over hacks of the Democratic National Committee ahead of the 2016 presidential elections.

The New York Times also notes that the director of the Center for Information Security, Andrei Gerasimov, was fired earlier this month. That news was also reported by Kommersant which explained that the termination followed an investigation into the agency's work with Kasperky on criminal hacking cases. Gerasimov is also the FSB's deputy director for counterintelligence. The arrests and firing were strangely public for a country and organization that often prides itself on secrecy.