Russians arrest Sergei Mikhailov, claim he is American spy linked to Anonymous hackers
The Russians announced the arrest of another security service officer accused of being a U.S. spy in a treason case thought to be tied to the hacking in America. Identified as Sergei Mikhailov, the man was arrested, dragged out with a sack over his head from a meeting with his FSB colleagues.
Mikhailov is also accused of being a member of the famous hacking collective Anonymous International, known for targeting high-ranking Russian officials.
photo/ Gerd Altmann via pixabay
Russian media says the FSB believes Mikhailov tipped U.S. intelligence about Vladimir Fomenko and his server rental company “King Servers.” The U.S. cybersecurity company Threat Connect identified King Servers last year as an “information nexus” used by hackers suspected of working for Russian intelligence in cyberattacks on electoral systems in Arizona and Illinois.
A pro-Kremlin television network, Tsargrad TV, claimed Mikhailov “patronized and supervised” an “Anonymous International” group called “Humpty Dumpty” that it said hacked the personal email of Russian Prime Minister Dmitri (Dmitry) Medvedev and other top Russian officials in 2014.
The group, known as Shaltai Boltai in Russian, has been accused of being a front for the CIA in the past after leaking compromising emails sent by Kremlin officials.
On Thursday, Russia’s Rambler News Service identified another FSB employee accused of treason, Dmitry Dokuchayev, who was reportedly arrested in December.
On Wednesday, the AP reported that a cybersecurity expert at a firm which works closely with the FSB (the successor to the KGB) has also been arrested.
A manager in charge of investigating hacking attacks at Russia’s biggest cybersecurity firm has been arrested, the company said Wednesday.Kaspersky Lab on Wednesday confirmed reports in Russia’s respected Kommersant newspaper that Ruslan Stoyanov, head of its computer incidents investigations unit, was arrested in December. Kommersant said that Stoyanov was arrested along with a senior Russian FSB intelligence officer and that they both face charges of treason.
A reporter for Agence France-Presse speculated on twitter whether the dismissal might have been tied to the revelation of the Trump ‘dossier’ published by Buzzfeed.
