Two US Cybersecurity Pros Plead Guilty Over Ransomware Attacks

Two cybersecurity pros guilty of BlackCat ransomware, netted $1.2M in Bitcoin. Facing up to 20 years jail, sentencing in 2026.

By Content Team

Jan 2, 2026

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Two cybersecurity professionals have pleaded guilty to running BlackCat ransomware attacks against US companies. Kevin Martin, 36, from Texas worked at threat intelligence firm DigitalMint, while Ryan Goldberg, 40, from Georgia was an incident response manager at Sygnia.

The pair operated as BlackCat affiliates, paying 20% of ransoms to the operation's administrators in exchange for access to the malware. They collected $1.2 million in Bitcoin from one victim alone. Both face up to 20 years in prison, with sentencing set for March 12, 2026.

The BlackCat operation targeted over 1,000 organizations between November 2021 and December 2023 before law enforcement disrupted it.

Source: Security Week

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