ARMENIAN NATIONAL EXTRADITED TO THE UNITED STATES PLEADS GUILTY TO RANSOMWARE EXTORTION CONSPIRACY

WASHINGTON, July 9 -- The U.S. Department of Justice's U.S. Attorney's office for XXXXXX (insert district) issued the following press release:

PORTLAND, Ore.- An Armenian national extradited from Ukraine to the United States pleaded guilty yesterday for his role in Ryuk ransomware attacks and an extortion conspiracy targeting companies throughout the United States, including a technology company operating in Oregon.

Karen Serobovich Vardanyan, 34, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and computer fraud.

According to court documents, between November 2019 through April 2020, Vardanyan illegally accessed computer networks of victim companies to deploy Ryuk ransomware on compromised servers and workstations. Ryuk ransomware is a type of malicious s...