The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in Cybersecurity – Week 39 (2026)

Court Sentences Initial Access Specialist Tied to Ryuk Ransomware A court has sentenced Armenian citizen Karen Serobovich Vardanyan to two years in federal prison and three years of supervised release for his role in launching high-profile Ryuk ransomware attacks against corporate networks throughout the United States. Vardanyan, also known online as ‘Maneeken’ or ‘Karl Lagerfeld’, was originally extradited to Oregon from Kyiv, Ukraine, in a coordinated effort between internation