Three employees at cybersecurity companies carried out ransomware attacks in their spare time, US federal prosecutors alleged in court filings.
At the time of the alleged hacks, two of the people worked at Chicago-based DigitalMint, a company that specialises in negotiating with ransomware attackers to mitigate incidents, according to court records.
Kevin Tyler Martin, one of two people indicted over the scheme, was a ransomware threat negotiator at DigitalMint, while a suspected accomplice also worked at the firm but was not indicted, according to filings.
Ransomware
Ryan Clifford Goldberg, the second person indicted, was an incident response manager for multinational cybersecurity firm Sygnia Cybersecurity Services, which is based in Israel.
DigitalMint and Sygnia were not targeted by the investigation and said they have been cooperating with authorities.
Both companies said they fired the alleged co-conspirators upon learning of the accusations.
The three men allegedly conspired beginning in May 2023 to conduct ransomware attacks, first targeting a Tampa, Florida-based medical devices company, locking its servers with ransomware and demanding a $10 million (£7.6m) ransom to restore them, court records show.
The three received a payment in cryptocurrency worth nearly $1.3m from the company, which they allegedly shared with AlphV, also known as Black Cat, the now-defunct Russia-based hacking group that developed the ransomware allegedly used by the co-conspirators.
Multiple targets
This hack was apparently the only one in which the alleged co-conspirators received a payment.
They also allegedly targeted a pharmaceuticals company in Maryland; demanded $5m from a California doctor’s office; sought $1m from an engineering company in California; and tried to extort $300,000 from a drone manufacturer in Virginia.
Goldberg is being held in a federal jail in Florida, while Martin has been freed on a $400,000 bond and entered a not-guilty plea, court filings said.
The unnamed “Co-Conspirator 1” was described in court documents as a resident of Land O’Lakes, Florida, while Martin lived in Roanoke, Texas.
Goldberg told the FBI he carried out the scheme to pay off debts and feared he was “going to federal prison for the rest of [his] life”, according to court filings. Court records do not show a plea for Goldberg.
