Cybersecurity Insiders Turned Criminals: How Three Industry Professionals Conducted Ransomware Attacks While Employed as Security Experts

Nov 04, 2025 02:34 pm CST

U.S. prosecutors have uncovered a scheme where three cybersecurity professionals secretly conducted ransomware attacks while employed at legitimate security firms. Ryan Clifford Goldberg and Kevin Tyler Martin, along with an unnamed accomplice, allegedly targeted five businesses beginning in May 2023, extracting nearly $1.3 million in cryptocurrency from one victim alone. This case highlights a disturbing example of insider threats within the cybersecurity industry, as the accused leveraged their professional expertise in ransomware negotiation to execute the very attacks they were hired to prevent.