{"id":173596,"date":"2026-01-01T04:39:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T09:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/01\/two-u-s-cybersecurity-pros-plead-guilty-for-working-as-alphv-blackcat-affiliates\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T05:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T10:30:10","slug":"two-u-s-cybersecurity-pros-plead-guilty-for-working-as-alphv-blackcat-affiliates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/01\/two-u-s-cybersecurity-pros-plead-guilty-for-working-as-alphv-blackcat-affiliates\/","title":{"rendered":"Two U.S. CyberSecurity Pros Plead Guilty for Working as ALPHV\/BlackCat Affiliates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two U.S. CyberSecurity Pros Plead Guilty for Working as ALPHV\/BlackCat Affiliates<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/cybersecuritynews.com\/u-s-cybersecurity-pros-plead-guilty-as-alphv-blackcat-affiliates\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-01-01 04:39:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: cybersecuritynews.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. <\/p>\n

A federal court in the Southern District of Florida has accepted guilty pleas from two cybersecurity professionals who used their expertise to conduct ransomware attacks rather than stop them.<\/p>\n

Ryan Goldberg, 40, from Georgia, and Kevin Martin, 36, from Texas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion through ransomware operations.<\/p>\n

Between April and December 2023, Goldberg and Martin, along with a third conspirator, deployed the ALPHV BlackCat ransomware against multiple U.S. victims.<\/p>\n

The defendants leveraged their knowledge of computer security to exploit vulnerable systems rather than protect them.<\/p>\n

They agreed to pay ALPHV BlackCat administrators 20% of all ransom payments in exchange for access to the ransomware and the group\u2019s extortion platform.<\/p>\n

After successfully extorting one victim for approximately $1.2 million in Bitcoin, the three men split their 80% share of the ransom and laundered the proceeds through various channels.<\/p>\n

This case demonstrates a troubling trend where insiders weaponize their technical skills for criminal purposes.<\/p>\n

ALPHV BlackCat operates as a ransomware-as-a-service model, meaning developers maintain the malware and infrastructure. At the same time, affiliates identify and attack high-value targets.<\/p>\n

The group has targeted over 1,000 victims worldwide, causing extensive financial damage across industries. The Justice Department has prioritized disrupting ALPHV BlackCat operations.<\/p>\n

In December 2023, the FBI developed a decryption tool that helped hundreds of victims restore their systems without paying ransoms, saving approximately $99 million. The FBI also seized several websites operated by the criminal group.<\/p>\n

Goldberg and Martin each face up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit extortion. They are scheduled to be sentenced on March 12, 2026.<\/p>\n

The investigation was led by the FBI\u2019s Miami Field Office, with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service, underscoring a multi-agency approach to combating ransomware threats.<\/p>\n

This case underscores a critical security concern: trusted cybersecurity professionals can pose a threat when compromised.<\/p>\n

Organizations must implement stringent background checks, monitoring, and ethical training for security personnel.<\/p>\n

The guilty pleas send a clear message that domestic ransomware operators will be prosecuted and held accountable, regardless of their technical expertise or industry position.<\/p>\n

Follow us on Google News, LinkedIn, and X for daily cybersecurity updates. Contact us to feature your stories.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two U.S. CyberSecurity Pros Plead Guilty for Working as ALPHV\/BlackCat Affiliates https:\/\/cybersecuritynews.com\/u-s-cybersecurity-pros-plead-guilty-as-alphv-blackcat-affiliates\/ Publish Date: 2026-01-01…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":173597,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEiJEQAvjNdtyp6iVrK6B5uSPiRBSTmRYXRTRiISaVSXWOGULehQ_YM4etvjNfq70RoImPZYc2y2ybKRe2mkZ5IJoKfVtRfrIVhER3MY2EyQsOg4nzuuZPRk5eRDQuUKUOQabUWIu4nVD4GlOBc_vecPse8lKHaaGF6PGTHSAlizbrKyrK3VuNnMlQzqGgw\/s1600\/Two%20US%20cybersecurity%20pros%20plead%20guilty%20for%20Working%20as%20ALPHVBlackCat%20affiliates%20%281%29.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[33,24,31,32],"class_list":["post-173596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cybersecurity","tag-computer-security","tag-cybersecurity","tag-exploit","tag-malware"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173596"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173596"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173598,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173596\/revisions\/173598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}