The Record reports two wins for law enforcement this week.
U.S. prosecutors announced two milestones this week in their cases against major ransomware groups.
Karen Serobovich Vardanyan, a 34-year-old Armenian national, pleaded guilty Wednesday in an Oregon federal court to conspiracy and computer fraud. For about six months beginning in November 2019, he accessed companies’ computer networks to deploy Ryuk ransomware, prosecutors said.
Angelo Martino, 41, of Land O’Lakes, Florida, received a 70-month federal prison sentence in a Florida court for helping the Blackcat/AlphV gang extort multiple victims beginning in April 2023. Martino famously used his experience as a ransomware negotiator to help the cybercriminals.
Read more at The Record.
Martino’s co-conspirators, Ryan Goldberg and Kevin Martin, were indicted in November, and pleaded guilty earlier this year. They were given four-year prison sentences in May. The two firms the three men worked for had no awareness or involvement in their crimes.
