Two former cybersecurity employees, Ryan Goldberg and Kevin Martin, have pleaded guilty to orchestrating ransomware attacks that extorted $1.2 million in Bitcoin from a medical device company and targeted several others. They were part of a scheme using ALPHV / BlackCat ransomware, which encrypts and steals data, affecting multiple US businesses, including a pharmaceutical company and a drone manufacturer. Despite being employed as ransomware negotiators and incident response managers, they exploited their expertise to carry out these attacks. The Department of Justice is determined to prosecute such crimes, with Goldberg and Martin facing up to 20 years in prison at their sentencing in March 2026. This matters because it highlights the risk of insider threats within cybersecurity firms and the ongoing challenge of combating sophisticated ransomware attacks.
