[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-ransomware-negotiator-who-worked-for-the-attackers-gets-70-months":10,"sections":34},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":24,"tags":25,"sources":29,"feedback":33,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":33,"total_tokens":33},4651,"ransomware-negotiator-who-worked-for-the-attackers-gets-70-months","Ransomware Negotiator Who Worked for the Attackers Gets 70 Months","Angelo Martino, hired to help victims survive ransomware attacks, was secretly feeding BlackCat intelligence and helping infect clients.","A ransomware negotiator sold out his clients to the gang that hired him — and a federal judge just made that very expensive.\n\nAngelo Martino, 41, of Land O'Lakes, Florida, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for working as a double agent for the BlackCat (ALPHV) ransomware collective while ostensibly representing its victims. He and two co-conspirators — Ryan Clifford Goldberg and Kevin Tyler Martin — didn't just withhold help; they actively infected at least some clients with ransomware and passed insider details to other BlackCat affiliates to drive up ransom payments. Five companies were targeted, including a Florida medical device firm that received a $10 million ransom demand and ultimately paid $1.2 million. Martino forfeits all cryptocurrency proceeds plus the houses, cars, and boats purchased with them, and owes 10% of any post-release salary.\n\nThe case exposes a structural vulnerability in the ransomware response industry: it is largely unregulated, built on trust, and the firms that sell negotiation services face no licensing requirements or conflict-of-interest rules. Victims under pressure hand sensitive financials and system details to strangers whose loyalties are impossible to verify. This trio had the access and the motive; the only thing missing was oversight.\n\nMartino pleaded guilty and argued for a 24-month sentence, citing cooperation that led to his co-defendants' convictions. The court gave him 70 months anyway — nearly three times what he asked for. Goldberg and Martin each received four years in April 2026. The outcome is a rare, concrete federal rebuke of insider collusion in the ransomware economy, but it won't solve the industry's trust problem on its own.","[\"security\",\"ransomware\",\"cybercrime\",\"legal\"]","2026-07-13T17:05:00.000Z","2026-07-13T17:49:17.502Z","2026-07-13T17:49:19.336Z","published",null,[],"security",[24,26,27,28],"ransomware","cybercrime","legal",[30],{"name":31,"url":32},"TechRadar","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.techradar.com\u002Fpro\u002Fsecurity\u002Fransomware-negotiator-hired-to-represent-victims-was-working-for-the-attackers",0,{"sections":35},[36,41,45,50,55,60,65,70,75,80,85,89,94,99],{"name":37,"slug":38,"count":39,"latest_published_at":40},"AI","ai",2590,"2026-07-16T04:00:00.000Z",{"name":42,"slug":24,"count":43,"latest_published_at":44},"Security",294,"2026-07-15T19:59:48.000Z",{"name":46,"slug":47,"count":48,"latest_published_at":49},"Deals","deals",179,"2026-06-29T20:02:07.000Z",{"name":51,"slug":52,"count":53,"latest_published_at":54},"Policy","policy",158,"2026-07-16T00:02:48.000Z",{"name":56,"slug":57,"count":58,"latest_published_at":59},"Hardware","hardware",122,"2026-07-14T19:46:26.000Z",{"name":61,"slug":62,"count":63,"latest_published_at":64},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",93,"2026-07-13T13:20:48.000Z",{"name":66,"slug":67,"count":68,"latest_published_at":69},"Software","software",70,"2026-07-13T19:52:25.000Z",{"name":71,"slug":72,"count":73,"latest_published_at":74},"Science","science",66,"2026-07-10T10:29:37.000Z",{"name":76,"slug":77,"count":78,"latest_published_at":79},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",59,"2026-07-07T04:00:00.000Z",{"name":81,"slug":82,"count":83,"latest_published_at":84},"Gaming","gaming",41,"2026-07-09T04:00:00.000Z",{"name":86,"slug":87,"count":83,"latest_published_at":88},"Startups","startups","2026-06-29T20:55:50.000Z",{"name":90,"slug":91,"count":92,"latest_published_at":93},"General","general",29,"2026-07-10T22:28:58.000Z",{"name":95,"slug":96,"count":97,"latest_published_at":98},"Reviews","reviews",20,"2026-06-24T12:00:01.000Z",{"name":100,"slug":101,"count":102,"latest_published_at":103},"How-To","how-to",6,"2026-06-16T09:00:00.000Z"]