Leaked Chats Show Alleged Russian Spy Seeking Hacking Tools

Six years ago, a Russian-speaking cybersecurity researcher received an unsolicited email from Kate S. Milton.

Six years ago, a Russian-speaking cybersecurity researcher received an unsolicited email from Kate S. Milton.

Milton claimed to work for the Moscow-based anti-virus firm Kaspersky. In an exchange that began in halting English and quickly switched to Russian, Milton said she was impressed by the researcher’s work on exploits — the digital lock picks used by hackers to break into vulnerable systems — and wanted to be copied in on any new ones that the researcher came across.

“You almost always have all the top-end exploits,” Milton said, after complimenting the researcher about a post to her website, where she often dissected malicious software.

“So that our contact isn’t one-sided, I’d offer you my help analyzing malicious viruses, and as I get new samples I’ll share,” Milton continued. “What do you think?”

The researcher — who works as a security engineer and runs the malware-sharing site on the side — always had a pretty good idea that Milton wasn’t who she said she was. Last month, she got confirmation via an FBI indictment.

The indictment, made public on July 13, lifted the lid on the Russian hacking operation that targeted the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It identified “Kate S. Milton” as an alias for military intelligence officer Ivan Yermakov, one of 12 Russian spies accused of breaking into the Democratic National Committee and publishing its emails in an attempt to influence the 2016 election.

The researcher, who gave her exchanges with Milton to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said she wasn’t pleased to learn she had been corresponding with an alleged Russian spy. But she wasn’t particularly surprised either.

“This area of research is a magnet for suspicious people,” she said.