A professional ransomware threat negotiator and an incident response (IR) professional have been charged with launching ransomware attacks.
Ryan Clifford Goldberg, a former IR manager for the multinational Sygnia Cybersecurity Services, and Kevin Tyler Martin, a ransomware threat negotiator for Chicago-based DigitalMint have been indicted by the FBI.
As first reported by the Chicago Sun Times, the two have been charged with attacks on five firms, using the ALPHN BlackCat ransomware.
Martin, 28, has pleaded not guilty. Goldberg, 33, has been in federal custody since September 2023. It was not immediately clear how he is pleading. They both face charges of interference with interstate commerce by extortion, and intentional damage to protected computers.
The two and an unnamed third co-conspirator allegedly hit a drone company, engineering firm, and medical device firm among others.
The Sun Times reported that just one was “successful” in terms of extorting a ransom. It netted them a reported $1.2 million.
Lawyers for the two declined to comment to the paper.
DigitalMint in July said the company was cooperating with an investigation involving an employee who had been fired for “unauthorized conduct.” The firm said it was not part of the FBI probe. Sygnia likewise said that it was “not the target of this investigation, however we continue to work closely with law enforcement.”
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