A former DigitalMint ransomware negotiation expert has been accused of colluding with hackers to extort victims and is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

PANews, July 6 - According to IT Home citing Bloomberg, a statement from DigitalMint says that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating a case involving a former employee. This ransomware negotiation expert was allegedly found to have reached a secret protocol with a hacker and then collected a commission from the ransom, a behavior that has severely harmed client interests. The company stated that the involved employee “has been immediately terminated” and that his actions are an isolated incident. The focus of the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation is whether this negotiation expert violated federal laws, including conspiracy, wire fraud, and Money Laundering. If convicted, this individual will face severe penalties. DigitalMint, a Chicago-based incident response and digital asset service company, specializes in Ransomware negotiations and cryptocurrency payment services, helping clients exchange for decryption keys and prevent data breaches of stolen information, claiming to have handled over 2,000 ransomware incidents since 2017.