U.S. Prosecutors Indict Cybersecurity Insiders Accused of BlackCat Ransomware Attacks

Federal prosecutors in the U.S. have accused a trio of cybersecurity insiders of conducting BlackCat (aka ALPHV) ransomware attacks against five U.S. companies between May and November 2023, extorting victims as they operated from Florida and elsewhere.

The defendants are Ryan Clifford Goldberg, Kevin Tyler Martin, and an unnamed co-conspirator, all U.S. nationals, reportedly targeted a medical device firm in Tampa, a Maryland pharmaceutical company, a California doctor’s office and engineering firm, and a drone manufacturer in Virginia.

According to the indictment, one target paid roughly $1,274,000 in virtual currency after a May 13, 2023 attack that had seen a $10,000,000 ransom demand, with other assaults demanding sums of about $5,000,000 in July 2023, $1,000,000 in October 2023 and $300,000 in November 2023; some victims did not pay.

The Chicago Sun-Times first reported the indictment over the weekend, noting that Martin and Co-Conspirator 1 were employed as ransomware threat negotiators for DigitalMint at the time, and Goldberg was an incident response manager for Sygnia, both firms cooperating with law enforcement.

Goldberg and Martin have been charged with conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by extortion, interference with interstate commerce by extortion, and intentional damage to a protected computer, with a potential maximum penalty of up to 50 years in federal prison.