Busting EncroChat’s secret communications network
The police described it "as akin to cracking the enigma code" and the biggest breakthrough ever in the fight against organised crime.
This breakthrough I’m referring to is the one that broke the EncroChat secret communications network – an encrypted chat service that is used by criminals, many of them major crime figures.
Not only were there over two tonnes of drugs, several dozen guns and ￡54m in suspect cash seized, but under the codename Operation Venetic, this landmark breakthrough also resulted in over 1000 arrests.
How did it they manage it? The court explained it like this:
The EncroChat servers were in France and the French Gendarmerie had discovered a way to send an implant to all EncroChat devices in the world under cover of an apparent update. That implant caused the device to transmit to the French police all the data held on it. This was called the Stage 1 process. It would capture all data which had not been erased, typically therefore 7 days' worth of communications. Thereafter, in the Stage 2 process, the implant collected messages which were created after Stage 1. The Stage 2 collections occurred after what was called "the infection", which was the point at which the implant first arrived on the device and executed Stage 1.
An estimated 60,000 people, among them up to 10,000 in Britain, subscribe to France-based EncroChat. The system operates on customised Android phones and, according to its website, provides "worry-free secure communications".
Customers still have access to features such as self-destructing messages that delete from the recipient's device after a certain length of time. It could be said to be tailor-made for illegal practices.
I appreciate that it is not breaking the law to be a user of an encrypted chat service. There are still many similar services out there that offer anonymous chat platforms. But their use for illegal purposes should come as no surprise.
Should they be allowed to continue? Should the cost to use such a service be increased? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.
https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/08/encrochat_court_appeal_ruling/