The U.S. has filed conspiracy, computer-based fraud, and computer-based extortion charges against Armenian national Karen Serobovich Vardanyan over his role as the operator of the Ryuk ransomware gang, which counts Universal Health Services and Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center among its victims, according to CyberScoop.
Vardanyan, who has entered a not guilty plea to the charges after being extradited to the U.S. last month, could be imprisoned for up to five years, as well as ordered to pay $250,000 per charge following a week-long jury trial beginning late August. Hundreds of servers and workstations have been compromised with Ryuk ransomware by Vardanyan and co-conspirators Oleg Nikolayevich Lyulyava, Andrii Leonydovich Prykhodchenko, and Levon Georgiyovych Avetisyan from March 2019 to September 2020, from which they were able to amass over $15 million worth of ransom payments. While Lyulyava and Prykhodchenko are yet to be found, Avetisyan is awaiting extradition to the U.S, officials said.
Vardanyan, who has entered a not guilty plea to the charges after being extradited to the U.S. last month, could be imprisoned for up to five years, as well as ordered to pay $250,000 per charge following a week-long jury trial beginning late August. Hundreds of servers and workstations have been compromised with Ryuk ransomware by Vardanyan and co-conspirators Oleg Nikolayevich Lyulyava, Andrii Leonydovich Prykhodchenko, and Levon Georgiyovych Avetisyan from March 2019 to September 2020, from which they were able to amass over $15 million worth of ransom payments. While Lyulyava and Prykhodchenko are yet to be found, Avetisyan is awaiting extradition to the U.S, officials said.
