This Russian-U.S. hacking/spying scandal just keeps growing tentacles. There is a mounting story here. And no one is paying attention. Today’s latest move in this ongoing battle involved the U.S. Justice Department indictment of two Russians in connection with the hacking scandal involving Yahoo’s email accounts. One Russian spy charged in the Yahoo case is Dimitry Dokuchaev.
Dokuchaev is not just another Russian name. He is no ordinary Russian spy who the Americans would now like to get their hands on. You see, Dokuchaev was arrested in January by, guess who – the Russians themselves. The charge: treason.
All of this follows the incredible leak to WikiLeaks of a treasure trove of CIA hacking tools and materials less than two weeks ago. The source of the leak or leaks remains, officially, unknown. And this, in turn, followed a series of other hacking/spying issues between the Americans and the Russians. Let’s rewind.
The Earlier Innings of the Spying/Hacking Game – Tales of Spies and Double Agents
The U.S. government believes that the Russian government hacked into the servers and email accounts of the Democratic National Committee. It conducts a comprehensive intelligence review and produces two public reports. The first claims that the Russian government is indeed behind the hacks, but provides scant proof of the claimed hacking intrusions. Independent U.S. cyber experts review the claimed “proof” and conclude that the cyber-evidence is inconclusive.
Weeks later the U.S. government produces a second intelligence report that concludes, with “high confidence,” that the Russian government directed the DNC hacks. “Sources” then leak to the New York Times that the U.S. conclusion was based on human intelligence.
Within weeks, the Russians arrest Sergei Mikhailov, number two man inside of the FSB’s cyber-intelligence unit. And boy what an arrest it was. In the middle of a senior-level FSB meeting in Moscow, agents enter and literally “bag” Mikhailov. He’s marched out with the proverbial bag over his head, is charged with treason, and has not been heard from since. It’s the first treason charge in Russia in over 20 years.
Did Mikhailov spy for the Americans? The timing simply cannot be ignored. The Americans rely on human intelligence as proof of Russian government hacking. They leak this aspect of the story to the press – and the Russians too (we suppose they read the New York Times). Soon thereafter they produce the Mikhailov bag scene. Seems like they decided that Mikhailov had provided the Americans with Putin’s fingerprints all over the DNC hacking operation.
Russian Spy Charged With Treason By the Russians
But Mikhailov wasn’t the only FSB agent arrested and charged with treason that day. They also grabbed none other than Dmitry Dokuchaev, a colleague who worked for Mikhailov in the cyber-intelligence unit. Dokuchaev was another Russian spy charged with treason. Yes, this is Dimitry Dokuchaev, the Russian spy charged today by the U.S. Justice Department in the hacking of Yahoo’s email servers.
In December, the Russians also bagged Ruslan Stoyanov as another player in the Mikhailov-Dokuchaev ring of treason. Stoyanov was a manager at Kaspersky Lab, Russia’s largest cybersecurity firm and head of its computer incidents investigations unit. There, he was actually in charge of investigating hacking attacks. We didn’t make that one up.
Stoyanov had previously worked at the cyber-crime unit of the Russian interior ministry. His connection with Mikhailov was apparently quite evident. His arrest was also a major event for the Russians, and not just because Stoyanov was involved with Mikhailov and Dokuchaev, apparently as their money man. Kaspersky Lab was a leading third-party security company that Russian intelligence relied on for advice in cyber matters. The FSB spent the good part of 20 years developing a deep relationship with Kasperskky Lab.
Spy Versus Spy – Moles, Moles Everywhere
So it looks like the Americans had at least one mole (Mikhailov) inside of the FSB. We speculated in an earlier piece that you can find here as to why the U.S. would alert the Russians that they had an American mole at the highest levels of the FSB. But we’ll leave that alone for now.
Dokuchaev was apparently playing both sides, aiding Mikhailov who abetted the Americans, while also running operations directly hostile to American business interests, at the least. He apparently reaped financial benefits from the Yahoo mission. One can only wonder how the United States is in the position to charge Dokuchaev in the Yahoo case. What or who could be the source of U.S. proof against Dokuchaev? Does this imply there are other American moles inside of the FSB? Or perhaps some of the cyber-criminals the FSB recruits are working with or for the Americans?
In turn, did the Russians use their own sources inside the CIA to steal the trove of CIA documents? Or did they turn one of the many American security “consultants” who the CIA apparently relies upon in their own cyber-intelligence efforts? Did the CIA material show up in WikiLeaks hands because the Russians wanted to show the Americans that they have moles too, deep inside the American intelligence community. And placed well enough to have stolen the CIA’s hacking “manual?” We infer that is is no coincidence the CIA’s “hacking” tools wound up in the public domain.
There’s likely a lot going on here, much more than we can know, in this cyber-battle between the U.S. and Russia. Stay tuned. But this Russian spy charged today in the Yahoo scandal is just another pawn in an on-going chess game.
There’s No Trump-Russia Relationship
We remain convinced of one thing. President Trump, love him or hate him, was not involved with the Russian government. Because if he was, the proof would have been leaked by Mikhailov and his pals. And certainly by American intelligence.