Florida ransomware firm owner indicted for allegedly overcharging victims after paying hackers

Federal authorities have indicted Zohar Pinhasi, the dual-national owner of Florida-based MonsterCloud, on wire-fraud charges. MonsterCloud marketed itself as a service that could retrieve files encrypted by ransomware without the need to pay the attackers, using proprietary decryption methods. According to the indictment, Pinhasi actually paid the ransomware gangs for the keys—spending about $8,200 for one key—and then passed the cost to the victims at a steep markup, charging as much as $150,000 in a single case.

The prosecutors claim the scheme generated more than $19 million in fees while the company paid over $8 million in ransom payments. Pinhasi, who also used the aliases “Zack Silver” and “Zack Green,” was arraigned in a Brooklyn federal court after a grand jury indictment in September. U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. emphasized that the conduct re-victimized the clients and sought a maximum sentence of 20 years if convicted.