Daijiworld Media Network - Washington

Washington, Dec 31: Two US cybersecurity professionals have pleaded guilty to conspiring with a notorious ransomware gang to extort American companies, the US Justice Department said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the department, Ryan Goldberg (40) of Georgia and Kevin Martin (36) of Texas pleaded guilty in a federal court in Miami to one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce through extortion. The two are scheduled to be sentenced in March and face a maximum punishment of up to 20 years in prison.

Justice Department officials said Goldberg and Martin were among three individuals accused of collaborating with the ALPHV Blackcat ransomware group to infiltrate and encrypt the computer networks of several unnamed US companies, demanding millions of dollars in cryptocurrency in return for restoring access.

The case drew significant attention as both accused were established professionals in the cybersecurity industry, tasked with protecting organisations from the very crimes they admitted to committing.

Martin had previously worked with cybersecurity firm DigitalMint, which acknowledged the guilty plea in a statement. The company said it strongly condemned his actions, stressing that they were carried out without its knowledge or involvement, and added that it had fully cooperated with federal investigators.

Goldberg was earlier employed by cybersecurity firm Sygnia, which had stated that he was terminated immediately after the allegations came to light and that the company itself was not under investigation.

An attorney representing Martin and the federal public defender assigned to Goldberg declined to comment on the case. Authorities have not disclosed the identity or status of the third alleged co-conspirator. The ALPHV Blackcat group is believed to have gone underground last year following a major cyberattack on UnitedHealth Group.