“I present myself to you in a form suitable to the relationship I wish to achieve with you.” Six Characters in Search of an Author Luigi Pirandello — Nobel Prize of Literature 1934

The names of the six suspects arrested so far have been disclosed. Two are high-ranking FSB officers: Sergey Mikhailov and Dmitry Dokuchaev. Vladimir Anikeev (aka Lewis) and his colleagues Aleksandr Filinov (aka Mad Hatter) and Konstantin Teplyakov (aka March Hare) are members of the “Humpty Dumpty” (Shaltay-Boltay) hackers/bloggers. Ruslan Stoyanov worked at Kaspersky. Many others — at least 10 — are investigated and Irina Shevchenko (aka Alice) — Anikeev’s girlfriend — is now wanted. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

The story is big and getting bigger. According to an anonymous source of the RIA Novosti Newspaper:

“The arrest of the Head of the Second Operational Department of the ISC [FSB Information Security Center ] Sergey Mikhailov and Dmitry Dokuchaev is just the beginning”. RELATED POST: The Moscow Four: What story hides behind the arrest of Russia’s top cybercrime investigators? Sergey Mikhailov is not the most important link in the chain of evidence and the investigation plans new detentions. The investigation has not yet established what information the FSB officers have provided to [US] foreign intelligence services (Perhaps but not necessarily the CIA).

Vladimir Anikeev was arrested in October 2016. FSB Sergey Mikhailov and Dmitry Dokuchaev are detained since December 2016 on suspicion of High Treason (Art. 275 of the Criminal Code).

The “Humpty Dumpty” members are charged on suspicion of ‘Illegal Access to Computer Information’ (Article 272 of the Criminal Code).

It is not clear at this point if the two legal cases are related and if any of them is directly linked to the alleged “2016 US presidential hack”. [From a timeline of these events — I will try to publish it next week — such a direct link seems highly unlikely.]

Reshuffle at the FSB ISC

The FSB Information Security Center (ISC) began a management reshuffle in connection with the criminal prosecution of a hacker group Shaltay-Boltay (Humpty Dumpty). So, Jahongir Yuldashev was appointed in place of the arrested Head of the ISC 2nd operational control Sergey Mikhailov.

Cooperation with the CIA

Interfax , citing its sources familiar with the investigation, reports that:

The FSB officers Sergey Mikhailov and his deputy Dmitry Dokuchaev are charged of “cooperation” with the CIA. The source did not specify whether the security officers acted directly or through intermediaries.

Anikeev or… Any-Key-ev (AnyKeyer)

In the past, Anikeev has described himself as a journalist who worked in St. Petersburg during the 90s. Problem: nobody in the St. Petersburg media world knows him…

REFERENCES

Shaltay-Boltay’s case: forthcoming detentions of FSB officers — Crime Russia 01/02/2017

Reshuffle in FSB ISC after arrest of Shaltay-Boltay — Crime Russia 31/01/2017

FSB officers face charges over cooperation with CIA — Crime Russia 31/01/2017

Humpty Dumpty

Moscow Spy Scandal Snowballs: What We Know — RFE