Nearly half of companies that are targets of a ransomware cyber attack end up paying a ransom to release their data or systems, according to 2025 research from cybersecurity group Sophos, while the median amount demanded is rising.

Globally, some jurisdictions are responding by banning payments to hackers. In the UK, for example, the government is advancing plans to prohibit public sector bodies and critical national infrastructure groups—including the National Health Service, local councils and schools—from making payouts.

The potential veto comes as ransomware hackers have become more advanced and meticulous in their targeting of companies, particularly vulnerable small and medium-sized businesses, over time.

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A former ransomware negotiator was sentenced to 70 months in prison yesterday after colluding with BlackCat scammers to extort the victims he was hired to protect.

As a ransomware negotiator for the company DigitalMint, Florida resident Angelo Martino's job was "to negotiate with cybercriminals to mitigate the ransoms paid by [DigitalMint's] clients," the US government said in a sentencing memorandum on Tuesday. "Instead, Martino provided the cybercriminals with confidential negotiation information to maximize the ransoms in exchange for a portion of the ransom payments. Five of the victims whom Martino was supposed to help paid over $75 million to ransomware affiliates, including likely millions of dollars in ransom demands inflated as a result of the confidential information provided by Martino."

Martino, 41, pleaded guilty and asked for a 24-month sentence, noting that he "provided substantial assistance that contributed to the indictment and conviction of two co-defendants." As described in this November 2025 article, the co-defendants were Texas resident Kevin Martin, a ransomware negotiator for DigitalMint, and Georgia resident Ryan Goldberg, an incident manager at security firm Sygnia.

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