Bottom line: An insider from the IT security industry exploited his position as a negotiator to spy on companies and optimize BlackCat extortions — two accomplices also received four-year prison sentences.
Angelo Martino, former employee of IT security firm DigitalMint, was sentenced to 70 months in prison for working alongside the extortion group BlackCat under the guise of advising on ransomware negotiations, defrauding victim organizations of billions of dollars.
The 41-year-old Angelo Martino worked for DigitalMint, a company that assists organizations in negotiations with ransomware extortionists. After pleading guilty, a U.S. court sentenced him to 70 months in prison for involvement in attacks by the ransomware group BlackCat, also known as ALPHV. The FBI linked BlackCat to at least 60 documented security incidents between November 2021 and March 2022; by September 2023, the perpetrators were reported to have extorted at least $300 million from over 1,000 victims.
Two other former employees of security firms Sygnia and DigitalMint — Kevin Tyler Martin (28 years old) and Ryan Clifford Goldberg (33 years old) — were convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion and also received four-year prison sentences. Martino’s name was initially sealed: the October 2025 indictment referred to him only as “co-conspirator number one”; the court documents were unsealed only in March.
According to court records, the three operated as partners of the BlackCat group between April 2023 and April 2025. They demanded ransom from victims, threatened to publish data, and encrypted their systems — in exchange for access to the ransomware and extortion portal, they paid one-fifth of the sums to the BlackCat operators. Particularly critical: Martino used his official role as a negotiator for five victims to pass on internal information — insurance amounts and negotiation margins. This enabled the perpetrators to extract maximum payments.
The affected organizations include at least five U.S. entities. A financial services provider paid approximately $25.66 million, a non-profit organization approximately $26.79 million. School districts, medical facilities, law firms, and other financial companies were also among the victims. DigitalMint distanced itself from the actions and terminated the employees involved.
Source: www.it-daily.net · Published July 10, 2026
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