The story of the Russian spy ring that included sleeper agents living quiet lives in Cambridge, Mass., faded from the headlines after they were deported.

But Russia's aggressive intrusion into American politics, its ties to President Donald Trump and the ongoing espionage efforts across Europe have kept the country's name plastered on television and online news sites these days.

Russia was also frequently brought up at a Boston College conference on cyber security, which featured FBI Director Christopher Wray and the agency's special agent in charge of the Boston division, Hank Shaw.

"I can tell you, as an adversary, they're all over the country," Shaw told reporters when asked whether Russia is still active in the Boston area. "It's of concern."

"When you have the world-renowned colleges and universities that we have here, you have the research and development that's happening within our backyard, you have Fortune 500 companies," he added. "You could expect that our adversaries are looking at any of that stuff at any given point and time. I could tell you, we are always proactively looking for that thread, we're mindful of it and we're doing everything in our power to stay in front of it."

The Boston College conference drew experts on cybersecurity in government and the private sector.

Shaw and Wray pressed for the private sector to work with federal government agents on cybersecurity, both before and after a breach.

Both Shaw and Wray brought up the "blended threat," nation-states like Russia tapping hackers to do their "dirty work" and steal proprietary information or company secrets.

"It's not if you are going to be probed, attacked or possibly breached but when it might occur," Shaw told the crowd. "None of us are clairvoyant so we must be prepared."

Shaw said he recently spoke with an employer in Boston's Seaport District, discussing steps they've taken to protect their information.

"It's really invaluable for us to have those quality relationships with our private sector partners, because they're not only going to be the victims, they're the ones who are really sitting on the information that the adversary is looking for, or the money, or the other things of interest," Shaw told reporters.