Two cybersecurity employees plead guilty to carrying out ransomware attacks

Ryan Goldberg and Kevin Martin pleaded guilty to carrying out a series of ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware attacks in 2023. The pair, plus an unnamed co-conspirator, extorted $1.2 million in Bitcoin from a medical device company and attempted to extort millions from other U.S. victims, including a pharmaceutical company, a doctor's office, an engineering firm, and a drone manufacturer. Martin and the third conspirator worked as ransomware negotiators at Digital Mint, while Goldberg was an incident response manager at Sygnia. ALPHV/BlackCat operates as ransomware-as-a-service. The FBI developed a decryption tool in 2023. The DOJ emphasized misuse of cybersecurity expertise and committed to pursuing perpetrators.

"Goldberg, Martin, and an unnamed co-conspirator were indicted for the attacks in October, which involved using ALPHV / BlackCat ransomware to encrypt and steal data from their victims. As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, Martin and the third 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, with the developers who maintain the malware often taking a cut of stolen funds from the cybercriminals who use it to target victims. In 2023, the FBI developed a 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, Reddit, and UnitedHealth Group."

Read at The Verge