TLDR Tech / InfoSec
Hacker Extradited from Ukraine Pleads Guilty to Ryuk Ransomware Charges
Armenian national Karen Serobovich Vardanyan pleaded guilty in a Portland federal court to conspiracy and computer fraud, admitting to deploying Ryuk ransomware against US organizations between November 2019 and April 2020, including a Michigan company that paid 200 bitcoin (over $1.1m at the time) and victims in Oregon and Texas. Vardanyan and co-conspirators collected around 1,610 bitcoin, valued at over $15m at the time of payment, from hundreds of compromised servers and workstations. He faces up to 15 years combined and has agreed to pay $1.1m in restitution. Ryuk disbanded in 2020, with many members reportedly moving to Conti, illustrating the pattern of ransomware crews from former Soviet states outlasting individual brand takedowns even as extraditions like this one become more frequent.
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