Alleged Russian Spy Worked at Microsoft

Supposed spy work at Microsoft as a tester.

In what feels like a throwback to the Cold War, the U.S. federal authorities have captured and deported the 12^th person in the continuing saga of the Russian spy ring.

According to the Washington Post, Alexey Karetnikov entered the United States in October and was living in the Seattle area, where he found a job with Redmond.

That's right, a man believed to be a Russian spy was employed at Microsoft – but only as a software tester. Microsoft confirmed that the man was working at Microsoft for about nine months. The company also confirmed that Karetnikov was deported last Tuesday.

Authorities did not have enough evidence to charge Karetnikov with a crime, but was able to deport him on grounds of immigration violations.

"He was just in the early stages; had just set up shop," said one senior federal law enforcement official, who added that the Russian had "obtained absolutely no information."

IDG news did some digging and came up with the Facebook page for Alexey V. Karetnikov, who said he graduated last year from St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University was formerly a senior developer at a company called Neobit.