Two US cyber experts plead guilty to cooperating with ALPHV Blackcat

Two US cyber security professionals have ​pleaded ⁠guilty after they were accused of working with a notorious ransomware gang to shake down American targets, the US Justice Department said.

Justice Department officials ‌said that 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, the department said.

An attorney for Martin declined to comment. The federal public defender assigned ‌to Goldberg declined to comment.

Goldberg and Martin were two of three people accused of collaborating with the hacking gang ALPHV Blackcat to encrypt several unnamed US 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 that it was aware of the guilty plea.

"We strongly condemn ‌his actions, which were undertaken without the knowledge, permission, or involvement of ‌the company," DigitalMint said, adding that it had fully cooperated with the Justice Department "throughout its investigation."

Goldberg had previously worked for Sygnia, another cyber security firm. ‌

A representative for Sygnia did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

The firm previously said that Goldberg had been fired by the company "immediately upon learning of the situation" ​and that Sygnia was not the target of the investigation.

Reuters was unable to establish the identity or status of the third alleged coconspirator, nor determine ⁠how to ​reach ALPHV Blackcat, which disappeared last year following a sweeping cyberattack at UnitedHealth Group.