Hundreds Arrested as 'EncroChat' Crime Chat Network Cracked
RandomFactor writes:
After two months of monitoring, a major encrypted criminal chat network in Europe has been shut down, resulting in over 800 arrests so far.
An estimated 60,000 people, among them up to 10,000 in Britain, subscribed to France-based EncroChat, which has now been taken down.
The system operated on customised Android phones and, according to its website, provided "worry-free secure communications".
Customers had access to features such as self-destructing messages that deleted from the recipient's device after a certain length of time.
There was also panic wipe, where all the data on the device could be deleted by entering a four-digit code from the lock-screen.
According to BBC technology reporter David Molloy
EncroChat sold encrypted phones with a guarantee of anonymity, with a range of special features to remove identifying information. The phones themselves cost roughly 900 (1,000) each, with a subscription costing 1,350 (1,500) for six months.
Europol said that French police had discovered some of EncroChat's servers were located in the country, and that it was possible to put a "technical device" in place to access the messages.
In June, rumours began to swirl about EncroChat being compromised by law enforcement.
The Netherlands' National Police said that users began to throw away their phones once the company became aware that messages were being intercepted - "but it was too late".
Police had already intercepted millions of messages, some of which have been acted on already - and others that may be used in the future.
England's National Crime Agency (NCA), roughly comparable to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States, stated that dozens of organized crime groups were shut down primarily across London and Northwestern England.
Details on the method used to breach the encrypted network have not been described in detail other than as "state of the art cyber technology."
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