U.S. court sentences Karakurt ransomware negotiator to 8.5 years

**Executive summary:** Deniss Zolotarjovs, a negotiator linked to a Conti/Karakurt-associated ransomware organization, was sentenced to 102 months in U.S. prison after pleading guilty to money laundering and wire fraud; the group extorted over 54 organizations (≈$56M in losses) between 2021–2023, leveraged VPN credential access, Cobalt Strike, credential-stealing tools, and exfiltration tools (rclone/FileZilla to Mega.io), and targeted critical services including pediatric healthcare and a 911 dispatch system.