Former Cybersecurity Employees Sentenced to Four Years for BlackCat Attacks
Summary
Two former cybersecurity incident-response employees were sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring as BlackCat affiliates from May to November 2023. Prosecutors said a Tampa medical-device maker paid $1.27 million.
Key points
- Ryan Clifford Goldberg and Kevin Tyler Martin each received four-year sentences after pleading guilty to conspiracy to obstruct commerce by extortion.
- They acted as BlackCat affiliates from May to November 2023 with Angelo Martino, paying a 20% share of ransoms for access to the ransomware and extortion platform.
- The victims included a Maryland pharmaceutical company, a Tampa medical-device maker, California businesses and medical practices, and a Virginia drone manufacturer.
- Prosecutors said the Tampa company received a $10 million ransom demand after its servers were encrypted and paid $1.27 million; the proceeds were laundered and split among the three conspirators.
- Other companies received ransom demands ranging from $300,000 to $10 million; the indictment did not indicate whether they paid.
- The FBI said BlackCat collected at least $300 million from more than 1,000 victims through September 2023.
Article Details
- Event Type
- Sentencing of former incident-response employees who pleaded guilty to conspiring to conduct BlackCat ransomware attacks.
- Impact
- Ryan Clifford Goldberg and Kevin Tyler Martin each received four-year prison sentences. The attacks affected multiple U.S. companies; a Tampa medical device manufacturer paid $1.27 million after receiving a $10 million ransom demand. The article says ransom proceeds were laundered and split among the conspirators.
MITRE ATT&CK
People
Threat Actors
ALPHVThe article uses ALPHV as another name for BlackCat, the ransomware operation whose affiliates carried out attacks against multiple U.S. companies.Angelo MartinoThe article says he pleaded guilty and acted with Goldberg and Martin as a BlackCat affiliate between May and November 2023.BlackCatThe article identifies BlackCat as the ransomware operation whose affiliates carried out attacks against multiple U.S. companies.Kevin Tyler MartinHe pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct commerce by extortion and admitted acting as a BlackCat affiliate from May to November 2023.Ryan GoldbergHe pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct commerce by extortion and admitted acting as a BlackCat affiliate from May to November 2023.