Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech When a person or company is hit with a ransomware attack, it’s common to hire a third-party negotiator who specializes in handling the back-and-forth with the cybercriminals. In an ideal scenario, the negotiator will fight as hard as they can for their client and reduce the financial damages while keeping additional data leaks to a minimum. In a staggering new criminal case, it turns out the negotiator was in cahoots with the hackers. On Monday, the US Department of Justice revealed that a Florida man named Angelo Martino, who had been working as a professional ransomware negotiator, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit ransomware attacks against at least five American companies. For the uninitiated, ransomware is a type of cyberattack that locks down the victims’ access to their data or software. A successful attack can incapacitate critical businesses like hospitals and airlines, or clear individual people out of their funds. In Martino’s case, the DoJ asserts he …