security services officers, in a mega data breach at Yahoo.
The official says two of the defendants are Russian FSB officers and the other two are criminal hackers. One of the defendants has been taken into custody in Canada.
The official was briefed on the matter but was not authorized to discuss it on the record and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The Justice Department was expected to publicly announce the charges Wednesday.
The charges arise from a 2014 compromise of Yahoo user accounts and would be the first case brought against Russian government officials.