Ex-Cybersecurity Pros Hack Clients, Because Why Protect When You Can Extort?
KEY POINTS
- •Ryan Goldberg and Kevin Martin, former cybersecurity employees, pleaded guilty to ransomware attacks in 2023.
- •They extorted $1.2 million in Bitcoin from a medical device company and targeted others using ALPHV/BlackCat malware.
- •The DOJ indicted them in October alongside an unnamed co-conspirator and announced guilty pleas the following Tuesday.
In a plot twist shadier than a Netflix thriller, Ryan Goldberg (40) and Kevin Martin (36), former cybersecurity savants and ransomware negotiators, confessed in 2023 to becoming ransomware villains themselves. Armed with ALPHV / BlackCat malware — a name that sounds like a failed rock band — these pros extracted a cool $1.2 million in Bitcoin from a medical device company and went on a multi-victim hacking spree before being indicted last October by the DOJ. Adding spice, a mysterious unnamed co-conspirator lurked in the shadows, proving that teamwork still makes the ransomware dream work. Chicago Sun-Times bravely reported on Martin and the accomplice's murky roles, because apparently former defenders morphed overnight into data kidnappers. The DOJ announced the guilty pleas on a Tuesday — fun fact, mid-week is apparently the prime time to confess a digital crime spree.
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Nothing screams career growth like going from cybersecurity defender to full-time ransomware extortionist. Bonus points: getting $1.2M in Bitcoin while leaving your employer straight-up hacked.
Congrats to Goldberg and Martin for showing us that the best way to understand customers is to ransom them.
When your day job is negotiating ransomware deals, but ambition says, 'Why not be the villain yourself?'
Source: Theverge | Published: 12/30/2025 | Author: Emma Roth
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