DOJ investigates ex-ransomware negotiator over extortion kickbacks
The Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into a former ransomware negotiator who reportedly collaborated with ransomware gangs to make money off of extortion payment agreements.
The suspect was previously employed by DigitalMint, an incident response and digital asset services firm based in Chicago that specialized in ransomware negotiation and enabling cryptocurrency payments to obtain a decryptor or stop the public publication of stolen data. Since 2017, the business says it has negotiated more than 2,000 ransomware agreements.
As initially reported by Bloomberg, the DOJ is looking into whether the suspect reportedly received a portion of the ransom that was charged to the client after negotiating payments with ransomware groups.
DigitalMint told Bleepin...