Kurtis Minder, Ransomware Negotiator and GroupSense CEO, was featured on MIT Technology Review & ProPublica's: The Bad Actors – The Extortion Economy podcast. This series is hosted by Meg Marco and produced by Emma Cillekens, Tate Ryan-Mosley and Anthony Green. The podcast dives into the criminal world where the stakes are high, but the methods are increasingly business-like and meet the people who interact with the ransomware hackers.
During the podcast, Kurtis talks about how GroupSense fell into the business of negotiating ransomware with threat actors, as well as lessons learned along the way.
In response to dealing with the same ransomware groups, Kurtis says – “We are definitely talking to the people many, many times. They might not know it is us – or maybe they know. This is like a business for them.” In addition, Kurtis notes “We approach this as a business transaction. We treat them respectfully, and when they step over the line, we tell them. We call them out when they are wrong, and you build a back and forth of mutual respect. It is approached as a business transaction.”
In addition to Kurtis, the following guests are featured on the podcast:
Kurtis Minder is the CEO and co-founder of GroupSense, a leading provider in Digital Risk solutions. Kurtis built a robust cyber reconnaissance operation protecting some of the largest enterprises and government organizations. Kurtis has been the lead negotiator at GroupSense for ransomware response cases. He has successfully navigated and negotiated some of the largest ransomware, breach, and data extortion cases world-wide. With over 20 years in the information security industry, Kurtis brings a unique blend of technical, sales and executive acumen.