"Angelo Martino, 41, was a former ransomware negotiator at what is only referred to in court documents as Company-1 - Chicago-based incident response company DigitalMint. The Florida man pleaded guilty to his role in helping the once-dominant ransomware outfit extort five US companies, all of which were supposedly paying DigitalMint to deploy its experts to help minimize the damage caused by the cyberattacks."
"Martino was feeding confidential information about the victims to help ALPHV/BlackCat maximize their ransom payment. The court's list of allegations claimed Martino financially benefited from passing on information including the victims' cyber insurance policy limits and details about how the negotiations were being perceived internally."
"A spokesperson at DigitalMint stated, 'The actions of Martino and his co-conspirators, unknown to the company, were in clear violation of the company's values, ethical standards, and the law. The government has now made clear that DigitalMint was also an unknowing victim of these crimes.'"
"Recently unsealed files detailed each of the five companies' ransom payments for the first time. One, a victim from the hospitality industry, paid a ransom using cryptocurrency worth $16,484,000 at the time. Another, a nonprofit, paid a ransom worth nearly $26.8 million."
Angelo Martino, a former ransomware negotiator, pleaded guilty to assisting the ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware gang in extorting five US companies. He provided confidential information to maximize ransom payments while working for DigitalMint. The company was unaware of his actions, which violated its ethical standards. Martino's actions led to significant ransom payments, including $16.4 million from a hospitality company and nearly $26.8 million from a nonprofit. DigitalMint terminated the involved employees and cooperated with federal authorities during the investigation.
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