Austin, TX – An Armenian man made his initial appearance in an Austin federal court after being extradited to the U.S. on charges related to his alleged role in an infostealing malware scheme.
Hambardzum Minasyan is accused of conspiring with others to enrich himself by developing and administering RedLine, one of the most prevalent infostealing malware variants in the world.
RedLine has previously been used to conduct intrusions against major corporations, stealing data including access devices from victims’ computers.
A three-count indictment alleges the conspirators maintained digital infrastructure, including C2 servers and administrative panels to enable the deployment of the malware by affiliates, and collected payments from RedLine affiliates.
The indictment also alleges that Minasyan registered two virtual private servers to host portions of RedLine’s infrastructure, as well as two internet domains in support of the RedLine scheme.
Additionally, Minasyan allegedly created repositories on an online file sharing site that were used to distribute RedLine to affiliates.
Minasyan is charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, conspiracy to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison for access device fraud and up to 20 years in prison for the other two counts.
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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