Ransomware Recovery CEO Charged for Secret Ransom Payments

The CEO of MonsterCloud, a ransomware remediation company, has been charged with fraud for allegedly paying ransomware attackers in secret while claiming to use proprietary technology to recover encrypted data. Zohar Pinhasi, also known as Zack Silver and Zack Green, faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Prosecutors allege that MonsterCloud contacted ransomware operators, paid them for decryption keys, and then used those keys to restore customers’ files, contrary to their advertised methods. The company allegedly charged customers significantly more than the ransoms it paid, facilitating over $8 million in ransom payments while charging victims over $19 million for recovery services.