The professional negotiators who work with cyber criminals
April 6, 2026 – Published on Financial Times
A global surge in ransomware attacks has driven the rise of specialist negotiators who are skilled at buying time, gathering intelligence and cutting deals with hackers.
Professional ransom negotiators have become a booming part of the cyber security industry as businesses seek help for high-stake talks with criminal gangs.
If a company decides to go ahead and pay a ransom, the negotiator will either facilitate a payment themselves or contract a payment specialist to do it on their behalf.
The payments are typically made in cryptocurrency, usually bitcoin, with the payment facilitator either having a “float” of available funds or established links to exchanges where it can be easily bought. But cybersecurity experts warn of one crucial caveat: paying criminals does not guarantee they will honor their word.
“There is always the risk of them not adhering to the terms of the agreement and they are not bound by the same legal terms and potential for civil or regulatory penalties that a regular organization would be,” Mark Lance of the cybersecurity adviser GuidePoint Security said.
This concern has meant the number of companies ultimately deciding to pay their attackers is falling, a trend that experts credited to the growing use of professional negotiators and an increase in precautionary measures such as backing-up data.
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