A 12th link in the Russian spy ring worked at Microsoft as a software tester in Seattle before being deported back to Russia this week.

According to The Washington Post, Alexey Karetnikov entered the United States last October and set himself up in the Seattle area, where he got a job at Microsoft as a software tester.

A senior federal law enforcement official said Karetnikov was “just in the early stages; had just set up shop."

Lou Gellos, a Microsoft spokesman, confirmed that Karetnikov had worked at the company for about nine months as a software tester but would not comment further.

The FBI said it was monitoring the Russian almost immediately upon his arrival and that he had "obtained absolutely no information."