{"id":60209,"date":"2025-12-30T15:32:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T23:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=60209"},"modified":"2025-12-30T15:32:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T23:32:32","slug":"feds-two-plead-guilty-in-nationwide-blackcat-ransomware-extortion-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=60209","title":{"rendered":"Feds: Two Plead Guilty in Nationwide BlackCat Ransomware Extortion Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"103\" data-end=\"335\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/9z9fxr_7z-k.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60211 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/9z9fxr_7z-k-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"brown mallet on gray wooden surface\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/9z9fxr_7z-k-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/9z9fxr_7z-k-731x1024.jpg 731w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/9z9fxr_7z-k-768x1075.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/9z9fxr_7z-k-300x420.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/9z9fxr_7z-k-850x1190.jpg 850w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/9z9fxr_7z-k.jpg 857w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><\/a>Two men pleaded guilty in federal court in South Florida to extortion-related conspiracy charges stemming from ransomware attacks in 2023, officials announced Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"103\" data-end=\"335\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Federal prosecutors say <strong data-start=\"127\" data-end=\"144\">Ryan Goldberg<\/strong>, 40, of Georgia, <strong data-start=\"162\" data-end=\"178\">Kevin Martin<\/strong>, 36, of Texas, and a third co-conspirator used the <strong data-start=\"230\" data-end=\"248\">ALPHV BlackCat<\/strong> ransomware to extort victims across the United States between April and December 2023, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"103\" data-end=\"335\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Court documents show the men paid ALPHV BlackCat administrators 20% of any ransom in exchange for access to the ransomware and its extortion platform. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"337\" data-end=\"651\" data-speechifyplaybackhighlighter-highlight=\"true\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">All three worked in the cybersecurity industry and had professional experience defending computer systems from the same attacks they carried out, prosecutors said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"653\" data-end=\"845\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">After extorting approximately <strong data-start=\"683\" data-end=\"710\">$1.2 million in Bitcoin<\/strong> from one victim, the men split their 80% share evenly and laundered the proceeds through multiple methods, according to court filings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"847\" data-end=\"1156\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Prosecutors say ALPHV BlackCat targeted more than <strong data-start=\"897\" data-end=\"924\">1,000 victims worldwide<\/strong>, operating as a ransomware-as-a-service enterprise. Developers created and maintained the malware and infrastructure, while affiliates identified and attacked high-value targets. Ransom payments were then shared between the groups.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"1158\" data-end=\"1473\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The announcement follows Justice Department actions in December 2023, when the FBI disrupted ALPHV BlackCat by developing a decryption tool that allowed hundreds of victims to recover their systems, preventing an estimated <strong data-start=\"1381\" data-end=\"1396\">$99 million<\/strong> in ransom payments. Authorities also seized several ALPHV-operated websites.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"1475\" data-end=\"1709\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Goldberg and Martin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct interstate commerce by extortion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"1475\" data-end=\"1709\"><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">They are scheduled to be sentenced\u00a0<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">on March 12,<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0and each faces up to\u00a0<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">20 years&#8217; imprisonment<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two men pleaded guilty in federal court in South Florida to extortion-related conspiracy charges stemming from ransomware attacks in 2023, officials announced Monday. Federal prosecutors say Ryan Goldberg, 40, of Georgia, Kevin&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Feds: Two Plead Guilty in Nationwide BlackCat Ransomware Extortion Case<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two men pleaded guilty in federal court in South Florida to extortion-related conspiracy charges stemming from ransomware attacks in 2023, officials\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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