Undercover spy targeted Kaspersky critics

Keir Giles, a Russia specialist with Britain’s Chatham House think tank, poses for a photo in central London on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. Giles was one of three people targeted by an undercover agent calling himself Lucas Lambert. An Associated Press investigation has found that the operation appears to have been directed at critics of the Russian antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

LONDON: Keir Giles’ first thought was that the man’s suit looked too cheap for a private equity executive. 

The man seated in front of him at the London hotel claimed to live in Hong Kong, but didn’t seem overly familiar with the city. Then there was the awkward conversation, which kept returning to one topic in particular: the Russian antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab.