Two US cyber experts plead guilty to cooperating with notorious ransomware gang

By Raphael Satter

WASHINGTON, Dec 30 (Reuters) – Two U.S. cybersecurity professionals have pleaded guilty after they were accused of working with a notorious ransomware gang to shake down American ‍targets, the Justice Department said in a statement on Tuesday.

Justice Department officials said that Ryan Goldberg, 40, of Georgia, and Kevin Martin, 36, of Texas, had both pleaded guilty at a federal court in Miami to a single count of conspiring to interfere with commerce through ‌extortion. They are due to be sentenced in ‌March and face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, the department said.

Lawyers for the two defendants did not immediately return messages.

Goldberg and Martin were two of three people accused of collaborating with ​the hacking gang ALPHV Blackcat to encrypt several unnamed U.S. companies’ networks in a bid to extort their owners out ‍of millions of dollars’ worth of ​cryptocurrency. The case drew attention in part because the ​defendants were established professionals in the digital protection space.

Martin had previously ‍worked for the cybersecurity firm DigitalMint, which said in a statement on Tuesday that it was aware of the guilty plea.

“We strongly condemn his actions, which were undertaken without the knowledge, permission, or involvement of the company,” DigitalMint said, adding that ‍it had fully cooperated with the Justice Department “throughout its investigation.”

Goldberg had previously worked for Sygnia, another cybersecurity firm. A representative for Sygnia did ‍not immediately return ‍a message seeking comment. The firm previously said ​that Goldberg had been fired by the company “immediately ​upon ⁠learning of the situation” and that Sygnia was ‌not the target of the investigation.

Reuters was unable to establish the identity or status of the third alleged coconspirator, nor determine how to reach ALPHV Blackcat, which disappeared last year following a sweeping cyberattack at UnitedHealth Group.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter. Additional reporting by AJ Vicens. Editing ⁠by Rosalba O’Brien)