Security Professionals Charged for Using BlackCat Ransomware Against American Businesses

Two individuals with security backgrounds have been federally charged for orchestrating a coordinated ransomware campaign against American businesses using the BlackCat strain, also known as ALPHV. Ryan Clifford Goldberg from Georgia and Kevin Tyler Martin from Texas face charges including conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce through extortion, intentional computer damage, and money laundering, with an unnamed co-conspirator also involved.

The indictment states the defendants and their associate deployed BlackCat in attacks against five major American companies between May 2023 and November 2023, targeting a Tampa-based medical device company, a Maryland pharmaceutical company, a California doctor’s office, a California engineering firm, and a Virginia drone manufacturer.

The medical device company paid roughly 1.2 million dollars after the servers were encrypted, while the pharmaceutical company paid about five million dollars, the engineering firm one million dollars, and the drone manufacturer three hundred thousand dollars. Prosecutors say the conspiracy continued from May 2023 through April 2025, with the government seeking forfeiture of cryptocurrency and other assets derived from the extortion.