The indictment states that Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, 27, tried to recruit an employee of a company located in Nevada to introduce malicious software into the company's computer network, notes a Friday news release from the US Department of Justice (DoJ).
Kriuchkov is believed to have conspired with his associates from around July 16 to August 22 of this year.
The malware would have allegedly allowed Kriuchkov and his co-conspirators to access the computer system and extract data from the network. Kriuchkov and his co-conspirators planned to threaten to release the data publicly unless the company paid their ransom demand, the DoJ release says.
Kriuchkov entered the US using a Russian passport and a tourist visa. He allegedly met with the employee numerous times to discuss the conspiracy and said he would pay the employee $1 million after the malware was introduced into the company's computer network. Kriuchkov also gave the employee a burner phone and told him to leave the phone in airplane mode until he received a signal through the messaging application WhatsApp, according to the DoJ.
Kriuchkov was arrested on August 22 in Los Angeles, California.