Overview
- Hambardzum Minasyan, who appeared in a Texas federal court Wednesday, was extradited from Armenia to face U.S. conspiracy charges tied to the RedLine infostealer.
- Prosecutors say he helped run the malware’s infrastructure by registering servers and domains, creating file-sharing repositories, and opening a cryptocurrency account to collect affiliate payments.
- He is charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, conspiracy to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, with statutory maximums of up to 10 years on one count and up to 20 years on others.
- Eurojust assisted with the extradition and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas is leading the case, following a 2024 multinational push that disrupted RedLine infrastructure but failed to end its use.
- RedLine is sold as a service and is used to steal browser passwords, cryptocurrency wallet data, and VPN logins, enabling criminals to take over accounts and breach companies, while the suspected main developer, Maxim Rudometov, remains at large under a $10 million U.S. reward.