Armenian national pleads guilty in US Ryuk ransomware fraud case

An Armenian national, Karen Serobovich Vardanyan, extradited from Ukraine, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and computer fraud associated with the Ryuk ransomware gang in a U.S. federal court. He illegally accessed various organizations' computers between November 2019 and April 2020, leading to over $1.1 million in ransom payments, including 200 bitcoin from a Michigan company.

Vardanyan and his co-conspirators reportedly received around 1610 bitcoins, valued at over $15 million, from extensive ransomware attacks on hundreds of servers. He is facing up to 15 years in prison along with financial restitution as part of his plea deal. The Ryuk ransomware gang, active from 2018 to 2020, was known for targeting significant sectors, including defense and healthcare.