Two cybersecurity employees have pleaded guilty to carrying out ransomware attacks

Two former employees of cybersecurity companies — one of whom was a ransomware negotiator — pleaded guilty to carrying out a series of ransomware attacks in 2023. Department of Justice Announce guilty pleas on Tuesday, saying 40-year-old Ryan Goldberg and 36-year-old Kevin Martin extorted $1.2 million in bitcoin from a medical device company and targeted several other people.

Goldberg, Martin, and an unnamed conspirator They were charged for the attacks that occurred in Octoberwhich involved using ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware to encrypt and steal data from its victims. like I mentioned before Chicago Sun-TimesMartin and the third co-conspirator worked as ransomware negotiators at Digital Mint, a cybercrime and incident response company, while Goldberg was an incident response manager at Sygnia Cybersecurity Services.

ALPHV/BlackCat is a hacker group that uses a ransomware-as-a-service model, where the developers maintaining the malware often take a portion of the funds stolen from cybercriminals who use it to target victims. In 2023, the F.B.I Developed decryption tool Designed to recover data from victims of ALPHV/BlackCat, which has been linked to high-profile attacks on companies Like Bandai Namco, MGM Resorts, Redditand UnitedHealth Group.

The Justice Department’s indictment alleges that Goldberg, Martin, and co-conspirators used ransomware in an attempt to extort millions of dollars from victims across the United States, including a pharmaceutical company, a doctor’s office, an engineering firm, and a drone manufacturer.

Assistant Public Prosecutor A. “These defendants used their advanced cybersecurity training and expertise to commit ransomware attacks — the very type of crime they should have been working to stop,” Tyson Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement. “The Department of Justice is committed to using all available tools to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of ransomware attacks wherever our jurisdiction lies.”

Goldberg and Martin pleaded guilty to one count of “conspiracy to obstruct, delay, or influence the trade or movement of any article or merchandise in commerce by extortion.” They are scheduled to be sentenced on March 12, 2026, where they face up to 20 years in prison.