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Three former employees of cybersecurity firms DigitalMint and Sygnia have been indicted for orchestrating a series of BlackCat (ALPHV) ransomware attacks against five U.S. companies between May and November 2023. The accused, including Kevin Tyler Martin and Ryan Clifford Goldberg, allegedly abused their positions as incident response professionals to gain unauthorized access to victim networks, deploy ransomware, steal sensitive data, and demand cryptocurrency ransoms ranging from $300,000 to $10 million. The Department of Justice and FBI state that the group operated as BlackCat affiliates, with at least one successful extortion resulting in a $1.27 million payment from a Tampa medical device manufacturer after its servers were encrypted.
The indictment details additional targets, including a Maryland pharmaceutical company, a California doctor's office, a California engineering firm, and a Virginia drone manufacturer, though it is unclear if further ransom payments were made. DigitalMint and Sygnia have both denied organizational involvement, terminated the implicated employees, and are cooperating with law enforcement. The case highlights the risk of insider threats within cybersecurity firms and the sophisticated tactics used by ransomware operators to exploit trusted access for criminal gain.
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DigitalMint publicly denied any role in the attacks and said it cooperated with law enforcement after the case became public.
Following the indictment, Kevin Tyler Martin pleaded not guilty to the federal charges tied to the alleged ransomware and extortion campaign.
The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed charges against Ryan Clifford Goldberg and Kevin Tyler Martin, alleging they used insider access and expertise from firms including Sygnia and DigitalMint to conduct BlackCat ransomware attacks and extortion.
According to later reporting, Goldberg tried to flee to Europe but was apprehended in Mexico City as authorities moved against the group.
The FBI traced the alleged operation, including cryptocurrency laundering through wallets and mixers, and obtained admissions from Ryan Clifford Goldberg, who reportedly said he joined the scheme because of debt.
Court filings and later reporting say the conspiracy remained active through April 2025, even though no additional victims after 2023 were publicly named in the referenced coverage.
Across 2023, the accused allegedly targeted at least five U.S. companies in multiple states, stealing data, deploying BlackCat ransomware, and demanding between $300,000 and $10 million. Prosecutors say only one victim paid, while the other extortion attempts failed.
U.S. and European law enforcement partners seized ALPHV/BlackCat infrastructure in December 2023. Later reporting said evidence from that disruption may have helped investigators identify the suspects.
In the first successful extortion case, the group allegedly attacked a Tampa-area Florida medical company and secured a cryptocurrency ransom payment of about $1.27 million after an initial demand reportedly reached as high as $10 million.
Federal prosecutors allege three Florida men, including cybersecurity professionals employed in incident response and ransomware negotiation roles, began a string of ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware attacks against U.S. companies in May 2023.
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Former DigitalMint ransomware negotiator Angelo Martino pleaded guilty to conspiring with **ALPHV/BlackCat** operators and U.S.-based accomplices to attack and extort American organizations while simultaneously serving in a trusted incident-response role. Prosecutors said Martino used insider access to share confidential victim information — including negotiation positions, strategies, and insurance policy limits — with BlackCat actors, helping drive up ransom demands. He was previously charged with conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by extortion after surrendering to U.S. Marshals, and he now faces up to 20 years in prison. Court filings allege Martino worked with former DigitalMint negotiator Kevin Tyler Martin and former Sygnia incident response manager Ryan Goldberg in at least 10 attacks, including cases where five victims hired DigitalMint and were assigned Martino as their negotiator. Authorities said the group acted as BlackCat affiliates, paid the gang a 20% share for use of its ransomware and extortion portal, and extracted more than **$75.25 million** across multiple incidents, including payments exceeding **$25 million** and one Florida medical-sector extortion that yielded about **$1.2 million** in Bitcoin. Law enforcement has seized roughly **$10 million** or more in Martino’s assets, while DigitalMint said it was unaware of the scheme, fired the implicated employees, cooperated with investigators, and added stronger oversight, auditing, and logging controls.
Jun 29, 2026
Two cybersecurity professionals, Ryan Goldberg and Kevin Martin, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges after using their positions as a ransomware negotiator and incident response manager to conduct ransomware attacks with the ALPHV/BlackCat group. The pair, along with an unnamed co-conspirator, leveraged their infosec expertise to compromise five organizations—including a medical device company, a pharmaceutical firm, a doctor's office, an engineering company, and a drone manufacturer—between May and December 2023. They agreed to pay ALPHV administrators 20% of any ransom collected in exchange for access to the ransomware platform. The only successful extortion resulted in a $1.2 million bitcoin payment from the medical device company, which was split among the perpetrators, with a portion sent to ALPHV. Patient photos stolen from the doctor's office were published on the gang’s leak site. Goldberg and Martin face up to 20 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for March. Authorities highlighted the betrayal of trust, as both men used their cybersecurity training and privileged access to facilitate the very crimes they were supposed to prevent.
Jun 29, 2026
Former DigitalMint ransomware negotiator Angelo John Martino III was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for conspiring with **BlackCat/ALPHV** affiliates and abusing confidential client information to drive up ransomware payments from U.S. victims. Prosecutors said Martino used sensitive details from at least five victim organizations—including negotiating positions, insurance limits, financial status, and planned responses—to help attackers increase pressure and extract larger payments, effectively working both sides of the negotiations. Authorities said the scheme contributed to extortion demands tied to roughly **$75.3 million** in victim losses. Martino also admitted conspiring with former DigitalMint negotiator Kevin Tyler Martin and former Sygnia incident response manager Ryan Clifford Goldberg to deploy BlackCat ransomware against five additional U.S. companies, including a medical firm that paid nearly **$1.3 million** in Bitcoin. The case was investigated by the FBI Miami Field Office and the U.S. Secret Service as part of **Operation Riptide**, and authorities seized millions in assets linked to Martino, with reports citing between **$7 million and $10 million**. The sentencing highlights the insider risk facing ransomware victims that rely on outside negotiators and incident response firms during extortion events.
Jul 14, 2026