DOJ Charges US Ransomware Negotiators with Orchestrating Attacks on Five Companies

The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted two employees of DigitalMint, a cybersecurity firm specializing in ransomware negotiation, along with a former incident response manager from Sygnia, for orchestrating ransomware attacks against at least five U.S. companies. The defendants, including Kevin Tyler Martin and Ryan Clifford Goldberg, are accused of abusing their inside knowledge and roles to breach corporate networks, steal sensitive data, and deploy ransomware developed by the ALPHV/BlackCat group, which operates on a ransomware-as-a-service model. One victim, a Florida-based medical device manufacturer, reportedly paid over $1.2 million in ransom. Other targets included a Virginia drone manufacturer and a Maryland pharmaceutical company. Both DigitalMint and Sygnia have stated that the accused individuals acted outside the scope of their employment, with Sygnia terminating Goldberg upon learning of his involvement, and both companies cooperating with the ongoing FBI investigation. This case highlights critical concerns about insider threats and the exploitation of crisis response roles in the cybersecurity industry.