{"id":174750,"date":"2026-01-05T14:21:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T19:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/05\/us-cyber-pros-plead-guilty-over-ransomware-activity\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T17:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T22:05:08","slug":"us-cyber-pros-plead-guilty-over-ransomware-activity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/05\/us-cyber-pros-plead-guilty-over-ransomware-activity\/","title":{"rendered":"US Cyber Pros Plead Guilty Over Ransomware Activity"},"content":{"rendered":"

US Cyber Pros Plead Guilty Over Ransomware Activity<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/cyber-risk\/us-cyber-pros-plead-guilty-over-ransomware-activity<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-01-05 14:21:00<\/a><\/p>\n

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

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

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. Two US-based cybersecurity professionals have pleaded guilty to their involvement in ransomware activity tied to the infamous ALPHV\/BlackCat ransomware gang.The BlackCat gang spun up as a prolific ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) outfit in the early 2020s, targeting more than 1,000 victims before the Department of Justice critically disrupted it in late 2023. Despite this, ALPHV (or rather, an affiliate and splintered remnants) carried out the infamous attack against Change Healthcare in early 2024.\u00a0On Dec. 29, a federal district court in Florida accepted the guilty pleas of Ryan Goldberg, 40, of Georgia, and Kevin Martin, 36, of Texas. News came out in early November that they, alongside an unnamed third coconspirator, “successfully deployed the ransomware known as ALPHV\/BlackCat between April 2023 and December 2023 against multiple victims located throughout the United States,” a Department of Justice (DoJ) press release read.\u00a0“All three men worked in the cybersecurity industry \u2014 meaning that they had special skills and experience in securing computer systems against harm, including the type of harm they themselves were committing against the victims in this case,” according to the DoJ. “After successfully extorting one victim for approximately $1.2 million in Bitcoin, the men split their 80% share of this ransom three ways and laundered the funds through various means.”Related:CTO New Year’s Resolutions for a More Secure 20263 US Cyber Pros Get Into RansomwareThe three men joined ALPHV\/BlackCat as affiliates and gave admins a 20% share of ransoms received in exchange for using the gang’s ransomware and infrastructure, according to the charges.What is perhaps most notable about the three is that they were all cybersecurity professionals. Martin and the unnamed third coconspirator previously worked for Chicago-based incident response firm DigitalMint, while Goldberg had been employed by Israeli cybersecurity firm Sygnia.\u00a0A spokesperson for DigitalMint tells Dark Reading that its former employees “acted wholly outside the scope of their employment and without any authorization, knowledge, or involvement from the company.” The spokesperson also says the employees had previously been terminated from the company.”The alleged misconduct is a direct violation of our company’s ethical standards, and not representative of the company\u2019s overall operations or values,” the spokesperson says. “DigitalMint has been and remains in full cooperation with the Department of Justice throughout its investigation. From inception, we have always remained dedicated to ensuring accountability for those who violate the law.”Related:Sunken Ships: Will Orgs Learn From Ivanti EPMM Attacks?Similarly, Sygnia tells Dark Reading that it’s “glad to see this case come to a close,” and that it fully cooperated with law enforcement. Based on its own investigation and its experience with law enforcement, Sygnia “can confirm that the defendant acted on his own and that Sygnia clients were not affected by the actions of the defendant.”Ransomware Conviction Fallout Could Include Decades in PrisonUS citizens (especially, in this case, professionals) turning cybercriminal is often startling to see, but unfortunately is far from unheard of. US-based individuals have been charged over everything from assisting North Korea IT worker fraud to running a Dark Web cybercrime forum.\u00a0Law enforcement continues to act, though. Last month, a Ukrainian national, Artem Stryzhak, pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn federal court for his role in conducting Netfilm ransomware attacks. He faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment.In the case of Goldberg and Martin, the pair each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct, delay or affect commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce by extortion. They will be sentenced on March 12 and face a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.\u00a0Related:Cybersecurity Predictions 2026: An AI Arms Race and Malware Autonomy
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