Two Cybersecurity Professionals Get 4-Year Sentences in BlackCat Ransomware Attacks

Published:

1 mei 2026 om 09:56:00

Alert date:

1 mei 2026 om 12:01:22

Source:

thehackernews.com

Ransomware & Malware, Data Breach & Exfiltration

Two cybersecurity professionals, Ryan Goldberg (40) from Georgia and Kevin Martin (36) from Texas, were sentenced to four years in prison each for their role in facilitating BlackCat ransomware attacks. The attacks occurred between April and December 2023, targeting multiple victims throughout the United States. The sentencing was announced by the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday, highlighting the serious legal consequences for cybersecurity professionals who participate in ransomware operations.

Technical details

Three cybersecurity professionals conspired to deploy BlackCat (ALPHV) ransomware against multiple U.S. victims between April and December 2023. They paid BlackCat administrators a 20% share of ransoms received in exchange for access to the ransomware and extortion platform. The defendants successfully extorted approximately $1.2 million in Bitcoin from one victim, splitting their 80% share three ways and laundering the funds. The BlackCat ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) scheme targeted over 1,000 victims worldwide before being shut down.

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