Two US cyber experts plead guilty to cooperating with ransomware gang

Two U.S. cybersecurity professionals have pleaded guilty after they were accused of working with a notorious ransomware gang to shake down American targets.



According to Justice Department officials Ryan Goldberg, 40, of Georgia, and Kevin Martin, 36, of Texas, had both pleaded guilty at a federal court in Miami to a single count of conspiring to interfere with commerce through extortion.



They are due to be sentenced in March and face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.



Goldberg and Martin were two of three people accused of collaborating with the hacking gang ALPHV Blackcat to encrypt several unnamed U.S. companies' networks in a bid to extort their owners out of millions of dollars' worth of cryptocurrency.



The case drew attention in part ⁠because the defendants were established professionals in the digital protection space.



Martin had previously worked for the cybersecurity firm DigitalMint, which said in a statement on Tuesday that it was aware of the guilty plea.



Goldberg had previously worked for Sygnia, another cybersecurity firm.