Florida ransomware expert allegedly sent over $8m in ransom payments
A Florida cybersecurity expert, Zohar Pinhasi, has been charged with wire fraud for allegedly paying ransomware attackers to decrypt client data while falsely claiming to use proprietary recovery technology. Prosecutors state he collected $19 million from clients while paying $8 million in ransoms.
Why it matters
The case highlights the risks businesses face when hiring third-party remediation firms and the prevalence of fraudulent practices in the cybersecurity services market.
A Florida cybersecurity expert who claimed his company could recover data locked by ransomware without paying hackers has been charged with fraud in the United States. Federal prosecutors allege that Zohar Pinhasi, 50, secretly paid cybercriminals to obtain decryption keys while charging his clients much higher fees. According to the US Department of Justice, his company collected more than $19 million from clients and paid over $8 million in ransom payments.Pinhasi, who also used the names “Zack Silver” and “Zack Green,” owns MonsterCloud LLC, a Florida-based ransomware remediation company. He was arraigned on wire fraud charges in a federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday after a grand jury in the Eastern District of New York indicted him on September 23.The allegations concern businesses that had already suffered ransomware attacks and approached MonsterCloud for help.
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