Man arrested in U.S. cybercrime probe previously worked with Hamilton recovery firm

He’s usually the person called in to help negotiate with hackers when a ransomware attack happens, now he’s accused of being a co-conspirator of a major cyber-criminal group that targeted the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).

CHCH News has learned more about the Canadian man arrested in the United States, and his connection to the City of Hamilton’s cyber-attack recovery.

54-year-old Canadian man Edward Dubrovsky was arrested on Thursday in the Philadelphia area, following an FBI investigation into the so-called “Shiny Hunters” cyber-criminal organization.

“They have been involved in some of the most significant cybersecurity breaches in recent memory,” said Carmi Levy, a technology analyst. “So the Ticketmaster hack, the PowerSchool cyber event, Salesforce, MyCanvas educational platform.”

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The FBI focused many of their resources on the group following a ransomware attack that stole the personal data of FBI agents.

This is what the bureau said after an arrest was made in the Netherlands last month, “Since last year, this cybercriminal and his co-conspirators have allegedly breached more than 140 organizations and taken at least $70 million in extortion payments.”

None of the allegations have been tested in court.

CHCH News was unable to get in contact with Dubrovsky’s lawyer in Pennsylvania.

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The 54-year-old is well-known in the Canadian cyber-security industry, and recently worked for CYPFER, a company that helps organizations recover from ransomware attacks, including Hamilton.

Though, the mayor says Dubrovsky never touched the file.

“We have been assured that he had no involvement whatsoever in the details of our work,” said Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath.

Dobrovsky’s LinkedIn account claims he was the chief operating officer and ex-founder of CYPFER until the start of 2026, while a statement from the company says he was a managing director.

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Either way, he was employed by CYPFER when the company was brought on by the City of Hamilton, following a 2024 cyber attack that crippled 80 per cent of the city’s IT operations, and cost more than $18 million to recover from.

“This was a company that was required by our insurance company to be hired, so this is what we had to do to satisfy our insurer,” said Horwath.

None of the allegations involve Dubrovsky’s work at CYPFER, and none tech analyst says there’s no major threat to Hamilton’s data.

“The City of Hamilton will probably want to review its records, understand what his involvement was when they contracted CYPFER to help with the recovery from their cyber attack,” said Levy, “but there’s no need to run for the exits here — this is an organization that he’s no longer a part of and I’m certain the city did its due diligence.”

For its part, the city says it won’t comment on on-going legal matters.

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