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4h ago

Former Ransomware Negotiator Sentenced to 70 Months in Prison

The sentence signals a Justice Department push to hold insider enablers of ransomware accountable.

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Concept piece for topics such as Technology Security, Data protection, Data Theft, hacking, ethical hackers, digital warfare, corporate intellectual property theft, ransomware and cyber attacks.
Cybersecurity Negotiator Gets 70 Months for Helping BlackCat Extort Victims
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Overview

  • Angelo Martino was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison on Thursday, July 9, 2026, and law enforcement has seized about $10 million in assets with a restitution hearing set for Sept. 17, 2026.
  • Prosecutors say Martino abused his role at an incident‑response firm by feeding BlackCat/ALPHV affiliates confidential negotiating positions and insurance limits so attackers could demand larger ransoms.
  • Martino conspired with two former cybersecurity professionals, Kevin Martin and Ryan Goldberg, to deploy BlackCat ransomware, split roughly $1.2 million from one ransom payment, and launder proceeds through various means.
  • Reporting shows five U.S. victim companies paid a combined reported total of about $75.3 million in ransoms and described near‑business collapse during the incidents Martino was involved in.
  • Officials framed the case as part of Operation Riptide and pointed to the FBI’s December 2023 disruption of BlackCat and a decryption tool that saved victims roughly $99 million, a development that could increase scrutiny of negotiators and vendor controls.