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Russian ‘Humpty Dumpty’ Hackers Given Jail Time

Konstantin Teplyakov, an alleged member of the Shaltai-Boltai Alexander Shcherbak / TASS

A Moscow court sentenced two hackers to three years behind bars on Wednesday for leaking the emails of Kremlin-linked public figures, the Interfax news agency reported.

Alexander Filinov and Konstantin Teplyakov were convicted of unauthorized access to data protected by law, RBC said citing a Moscow City Court judge.

The men are members of the notorious Shaltai Boltai (Humpty Dumpty) hacking collective that blackmailed top Russian officials by threatening to disclose their stolen data to the press.

They were arrested on suspicion of accessing legally-protected computer information in November 2016.

Shaltai Boltai’s victims include Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, his spokesperson Natalya Timakova, and Aram Gabrelyanov who owns several pro-Kremlin media outlets.

Read more: An American Cover Story for Russia's Undercover Hackers

Kremlin propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov, presidential aide Andrei Belousov and Yevgeny Kislyakov, the head of housing project management at Sberbank were the plaintiffs in the case.

Shaltai Boltai ringleader Vladimir Anikeyev was handed a two-year sentence in July after pleading guilty to hacking. 

He was detained last year alongside two FSB officials tasked with cybersecurity and a former Kaspersky Lab cybersecurity firm employee. 

One of the FSB officers, Sergei Mikhailov, head of the FSB’s Center for Information Security, faces charges of treason.

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