Former Ransomware Negotiator Pleads Guilty to Helping BlackCat Extort US Firms
Summary
Angelo Martino pleaded guilty to helping BlackCat/ALPHV extort US companies by sharing confidential client negotiation and insurance information. Authorities seized about $10 million in assets; experts urged separating negotiation, payment, and response roles.
Key points
- Martino admitted sharing clients’ confidential negotiation strategies and insurance policy limits with BlackCat/ALPHV while working for an incident response firm.
- He conspired with Ryan Goldberg and Kevin Martin, who pleaded guilty to the same charge; the men deployed BlackCat ransomware against multiple US victims in 2023.
- The defendants extorted one victim for approximately $1.2 million in Bitcoin and laundered their proceeds, according to the DOJ.
- Authorities have seized approximately $10 million in assets from Martino, including digital currency and vehicles.
- All three defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
- Experts recommended separating negotiation, payment, recovery, and forensic roles, and enforcing least privilege for third parties handling sensitive incident data.
Article Details
- Event Type
- Guilty pleas in an insider-assisted BlackCat ransomware conspiracy involving former cybersecurity professionals.
- Impact
- Angelo Martino admitted providing BlackCat attackers with confidential negotiation and insurance information from five victims to help increase extortion payments. Martino, Ryan Goldberg, and Kevin Martin were involved in deploying ransomware against multiple U.S.-based victims; one victim paid approximately $1.2 million in Bitcoin, which the men split and laundered. Authorities have seized approximately $10 million in assets from Martino. All three face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
MITRE ATT&CK
People
Threat Actors
ALPHVNamed alongside BlackCat as the ransomware group involved in the conspiracy; the article uses BlackCat/ALPHV for the group.Angelo MartinoPleaded guilty to conspiring with BlackCat attackers, providing confidential victim negotiation and insurance information, and participating in extortion activity.BlackCatRansomware group whose attackers conspired with Martino and whose ransomware was deployed against multiple U.S.-based victims. The article uses BlackCat/ALPHV for the group.Kevin Tyler MartinEntered a guilty plea for extortion and conspired with Martino and Ryan Goldberg in deploying BlackCat ransomware against multiple U.S.-based victims.Ryan GoldbergEntered a guilty plea for extortion and conspired with Martino and Kevin Martin in deploying BlackCat ransomware against multiple U.S.-based victims.Scattered SpiderThe article says Tyler Buchanan was reportedly affiliated with Scattered Spider; it does not establish the affiliation as confirmed.Tyler Robert BuchananThe article reports that Buchanan pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and conspired in text-based phishing attacks and virtual-currency theft.