A Russian man who was involved in the distribution and maintenance of the Citadel malware that ran rampant in 2013 has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Mark Vartanyan (pictured), also known as “Kolypto,” was arrested by Norway in October 2014 and served two years behind bars there before being extradited to the United States in December. Facing court in March this year, Vartanyan pleaded guilty to computer fraud as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

Citadel, first developed in 2011, is a trojan virus that targets online banking details, credit card data and other financial information. The malware is distributed through infected websites and email campaigns, and once installed on a victims computer records the keystrokes undertaken on the given computer. Those behind Citadel also designed the malware to block access to anti-virus software, preventing victims from being able to remove it even when it was detected.

According to The Associated Press, estimates indicate that the malware infected about 11 million computers worldwide and caused more than $500 million in losses.

Vartanyan, originally from Moscow, was said to be involved in the development, improvement, maintenance and distribution of Citadel but did not author it. Federal prosecutor Steven Grimberg told the judge that “for lack of a better term, [Vartanyan was] the ‘mechanic,’ the person who made it more pernicious.” The five-year sentence handed down was exactly the term requested but notably lower than the maximum penalty as prosecutors recognized that Vartanyan not only showed remorse but also willingly assisted the government in further cybercrime investigations.

Vartanyan will spend only three years in prison as he received two years credit for the time already served in Norway.

Photo: Mark Vartanyan/LinkedIn