US Prosecutors have accused three American cybersecurity experts of covertly operating a ransomware scheme targeting businesses across the United States. According to an indictment filed last month in federal court in Miami, two of the individuals—Ryan Goldberg and Kevin Martin—allegedly partnered with the infamous hacking group ALPHV BlackCat to infiltrate corporate networks and demand millions of dollars in cryptocurrency as ransom.
Court documents reveal that Goldberg is currently in custody awaiting trial, while Martin has entered a plea of not guilty. Attorneys representing both men declined to comment. The indictment does not disclose the names of the affected companies, referring to them only as businesses from various sectors located in California, Florida, Virginia, and Maryland.
Martin was previously listed in online course materials as a former employee of DigitalMint, a cybersecurity firm specializing in cybercrime and ransomware response. Goldberg was identified by another course provider as an incident response manager at Sygnia (SYGJ.J), also a cybersecurity company.
DigitalMint confirmed that a former staff member had been indicted for involvement in ransomware activities, emphasizing that he acted entirely outside the scope of his role and that the company had no prior knowledge of the misconduct. The firm also noted that the third, unnamed co-conspirator may have been an employee as well. DigitalMint stated it is cooperating with investigators and is not a target of the probe. Sygnia reported that Goldberg was terminated immediately after the allegations surfaced and clarified that it is not under investigation, but is assisting law enforcement.
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