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6d ago

Ransomware Negotiator Sent to Prison for Betraying Clients to BlackCat

The 70-month sentence underscores the Justice Department’s push to punish insider collusion under Operation Riptide with restitution to be set Sept. 17.

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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.
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Overview

  • On Thursday, July 9, Angelo Martino was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and authorities seized about $10 million in assets tied to his scheme.
  • Prosecutors say Martino used his job as a ransomware negotiator to feed attackers confidential negotiation positions and insurance limits so ransom demands could be raised.
  • Martino obtained affiliate access to the BlackCat/ALPHV platform and worked with former security professionals Kevin Martin and Ryan Goldberg to deploy ransomware and split proceeds from at least one $1.2 million Bitcoin payment.
  • Court filings say five clients Martino represented paid a combined roughly $75.3 million in ransoms between April and September 2023, including payments by a nonprofit, a financial services firm, and a hospitality company.
  • The case follows the FBI’s December 2023 disruption of BlackCat and a decryption tool that saved victims about $99 million, and it highlights growing risks from trusted intermediaries in the ransomware response market.