Two US Security Experts Sentenced to Prison for Helping Ransomware Gang

Summary

Ryan Goldberg and Kevin Martin, cybersecurity professionals working at security firms, were sentenced to 4 years in prison for conspiracy to commit extortion through ransomware attacks. The pair, along with a third accomplice Angelo Martino (awaiting sentencing), used BlackCat and Alphv ransomware to target companies and laundered approximately $1.2 million from one victim. The BlackCat operation targeted over 1,000 organizations before being disrupted by authorities in late 2023.

Full text

Two cybersecurity experts from the United States have been sentenced to prison over charges related to their role in ransomware attacks. Ryan Goldberg of Georgia and Kevin Martin of Texas were each given a 4-year prison sentence after they pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct or affect interstate commerce by extortion. A third US-based cybersecurity professional who also took part in the ransomware scheme, Angelo Martino from Florida, also pleaded guilty recently and is awaiting sentencing. The three men were working at cybersecurity firms — two of them as ransomware negotiators — when they decided to conduct ransomware attacks against several companies. They used the ransomware known as BlackCat and Alphv to target victims, paying 20% of the ransom to the cybercrime operation’s administrators. Authorities said the hackers who turned from white-hat to black-hat received roughly $1.2 million from one victim and laundered their 80% cut through various methods.Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading. Martino’s sentencing is scheduled for July 9. More than 1,000 organizations were targeted in BlackCat ransomware attacks between November 2021 and December 2023, when the operation was disrupted by authorities. A few months later, the cybercriminals received a $22 million ransom from a victim and pulled an exit scam. The US has been offering a $10 million reward for information on key members of the ransomware group, but no charges have been announced to date. Related: FBI Warns of Surge in Hacker-Enabled Cargo Theft Related: Alleged Chinese State Hacker Extradited to US Related: British Scattered Spider Hacker Pleads Guilty in the US Written By Eduard Kovacs Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is senior managing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher before starting a career in journalism in 2011. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering. 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Indicators of Compromise

• malware — BlackCat
• malware — Alphv

Entities