Ryuk Member Karen Vardanyan Sentenced to Two Years in U.S. Prison
Ryuk affiliate Karen Vardanyan was sentenced to 24 months in U.S. prison and ordered to pay $1.2 million restitution.
Armenian national Karen Vardanyan, known online as Maneeken, was sentenced in the United States to 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release after extradition from Ukraine. He pleaded guilty to illegally accessing corporate networks and helping deploy Ryuk ransomware against U.S. organizations between November 2019 and April 2020. A Michigan company paid 200 Bitcoin, then worth over $1.1 million, and the court ordered $1,219,106 in restitution. The wider conspiracy collected about 1,610 Bitcoin, more than $15 million then, while Ryuk overall was estimated at $150 million before operators rebranded as Conti.
- Vardanyan, 35, extradited from Ukraine, received 24 months and three years' supervised release.
- He pleaded guilty to supplying initial access for 2019-2020 Ryuk attacks on U.S. organizations.
- Restitution is $1,219,106; victims included Michigan and Oregon companies and a Texas school.
- Ryuk, tied to Wizard Spider, later rebranded as Conti after an estimated $150 million in ransoms.
- Threat actors
- Karen VardanyanWizard SpiderConti
- Countries
- United StatesUkraineArmenia
From the original article
3 min read at securityaffairs.com
Ryuk member Karen Vardanyan was sentenced to 24 months in U. S. prison after extradition from Ukraine and ordered to pay $1.
By Pierluigi Paganini · securityaffairs.com
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