- Jul 22, 2014
- 2,525
Yesterday, a Russian national accused of helping develop the Citadel banking trojan was arraigned in front of a US judge for the first time, after being extradited from Fredrikstad, Norway.
The man's name is Mark Vartanyan, 28, known online as Kolypto. According to US authorities, Vartanyan allegedly developed, improved and maintained the Citadel malware, a banking trojan made available via a Malware-as-a-Service offering.
Citadel's creator remains at large
The Citadel trojan came to the security industry's attention in 2011, and was initially based on the source code of the ZeuS banking trojan, which leaked online months before.
Citadel evolved over the years, under the supervision of Aquabox, the malware's creator. According to US authorities, Vartanyan is one of Aquabox's helpers.
Previously, in 2014, US authorities arrested Dimitry Belorossov, a Russian national known as Rainerfox, who helped with Citadel's online promotion, and also occupied a role of technical and customer support. In September 2015, a US judge sentenced Belorossov to four years and six months in prison.
Vartanyan arrested in Norway in 2014
.......
The man's name is Mark Vartanyan, 28, known online as Kolypto. According to US authorities, Vartanyan allegedly developed, improved and maintained the Citadel malware, a banking trojan made available via a Malware-as-a-Service offering.
Citadel's creator remains at large
The Citadel trojan came to the security industry's attention in 2011, and was initially based on the source code of the ZeuS banking trojan, which leaked online months before.
Citadel evolved over the years, under the supervision of Aquabox, the malware's creator. According to US authorities, Vartanyan is one of Aquabox's helpers.
Previously, in 2014, US authorities arrested Dimitry Belorossov, a Russian national known as Rainerfox, who helped with Citadel's online promotion, and also occupied a role of technical and customer support. In September 2015, a US judge sentenced Belorossov to four years and six months in prison.
Vartanyan arrested in Norway in 2014
.......
