Data leaks attracted an investigator

The former co-owner and top manager of Merlion, Boris Levin, established the Security and Law company to provide information security services, in particular, to detect insiders and investigate data leaks. The company will cooperate with SearchInform and InfoWatch. Partners confirm that among their customers, the demand for such services has grown amid massive data breaches in 2022. However, experts believe that the new project will attract rather small and medium-sized businesses that cannot afford the services of large vendors amid rising costs.

The former co-owner of the Merlion IT company, Boris Levin, established Security and Law LLC, discovered Kommersant in SPARK Interfax. The company was registered at the end of 2022 and is engaged in the audit of internal and external risks of organizations, the implementation of threat prevention systems, provides legal and consulting services, follows from the data on its website.

As Mr. Levin clarified to Kommersant, the company will also be a distributor of SearchInform and InfoWatch solutions, for example, DLP systems (Data Loss Prevention – leak detection and prevention systems). A monitoring group will be organized to work with them: a staff of specialists who will deal with anti-phishing services, domain blocking, leak prevention, etc. He did not disclose investments in the project, specifying that the company will provide services for retail, industry, financial organizations and other sectors.

Boris Levin in 1999-2002 headed the Tehmarket company (cellular retail, passed to Euroset), since 2002 he was Euroset’s vice president for security. Then he worked in the security service of TNK-BP (bought by Rosneft), was a member of the Board of Directors of Realist Bank, and also owned a stake in the Cypriot Merlion Group Limited, the parent structure of the Russian IT distributor Merlion. In October 2020, Boris Levin, along with Merlion co-owners Oleg Karchev, Vladislav Mangutov and Alexei Abramov, was taken into custody for murder with arson (see Kommersant dated October 26, 2020). Mr. Levin was in a pre-trial detention center until August 2021, was acquitted and received the right to rehabilitation (see Kommersant of January 18).

InfoWatch confirmed to Kommersant that they are negotiating with Security and Law as an “additional channel for business development.” Boris Levin has extensive experience in building a cybersecurity system in large companies, said Lev Matveev, head of the SearchInform board of directors: “Our clients have a request for a comprehensive audit of external and internal risks and leak protection services.” But even if the new company “has the legacy of Merlion in terms of contacts with large customers, entering the information security segment will not be easy,” a Kommersant source in the IT distribution market believes: “It is not enough to have solutions, you need a staff of specialists, knowledge of the implementation of such projects “.

Among the major participants in the Russian market of DLP systems, in addition to SearchInform and InfoWatch, one can name, for example, Zecurion and Garda Technologies. The leaders in the segment until 2022 were foreign vendors that left the Russian Federation after the start of hostilities in Ukraine – Symantec, Forcepoint, Intel Security, etc. At the same time, the demand for data leak detection and prevention services in the country has grown sharply against the backdrop of massive hacker attacks. According to Kaspersky Lab, the amount of personal data that got into the network as a result of the largest leaks in 2022 exceeded 1.5 billion records (see Kommersant of December 16).

Against the background of an increase in the number of attacks and data leaks, as well as tightening of regulation, the demand for comprehensive security services is growing, the interlocutor of Kommersant admits in the market. However, he clarifies, such products are more in demand by small and medium-sized businesses, large companies are building their own systems or ordering the services of large vendors. Rustem Khairetdinov, Deputy General Director of Garda Technologies, confirms that there is a demand for such solutions among small companies: “Here, the issue of obtaining all security from one source with a guarantee may be more important than unique expertise.”

Tatyana Isakova