Police infiltrate encrypted system, arrest hundreds 'leading secret criminal lives', and seize £54m

[MenInG]

Police have arrested hundreds of suspected top-tier criminals involved in murder, gun smuggling and drug trafficking after infiltrating their encrypted phone system.

In an operation led by the UK's National Crime Agency, investigators say they have seized £54m in cash, two tonnes of cocaine, 77 firearms including assault rifles, sub-machine guns and grenades and prevented contract killings.

Many of the targets are said to have considered themselves "untouchable" - posing as respectable, wealthy tycoons with lifestyles built on the profits of legitimate businesses.

One source said: "Many were seen by friends and neighbours as pillars of society, but in reality were leading secret, glamorous lives they thought would go on forever."

Every police force in Britain was involved in Operation Venetic, which was launched in April after analysts managed to infiltrate the secretive Encrochat mobile telephone system used by organised criminals around the world.

The system which was hosted in France was taken down during the police operation.

Users paid £1,600 a month for a bespoke Encrochat handset which offers a highly encrypted communication platform.

The NCA says there were 60,000 users around the world and 10,000 in the UK, all off them suspected criminals.

Organised crime gangs used Encrochat to underpin their operations, swapping images of guns and drugs for sale and building in codes and timers that wiped data automatically.

The NCA said some law enforcement officers - fewer than ten - were among those arrested after being "compromised" in intercepted messages.

The Metropolitan Police played a key role, arresting 132 suspects and seizing £13m in cash and 14 firearms including Scorpion sub-machine guns.

In one dawn raid, officers used specialist counter-terror firearms officers and stun grenades to arrest a dangerous suspect involved in firearms and major drug trafficking.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said: "This is an amazing moment. We've known for ages that some organised criminals we have dealt with over the years but have never been able to bring to justice for the most serious offences, have been turning to encrypted devices they thought were completely impenetrable.

"They thought they were never going to get caught and were able to use those devices without worry and this shows that law enforcement will be able, in the future, wherever you hide to come after you. These people have been hiding for far too long.

"So this is just the beginning. We have arrested large numbers of people. We have many more to arrest and we will be disrupting organised criminal networks as a result of these operations for weeks and months and possibly years to come.

"I think it is a game changer because it shows people that you need to be very frightened because we may already be after you now on the basis of what you have been doing."

The National Crime Agency said investigators had seized 106 Encrochat mobile handsets during the operation so far and prevented the murder of several individuals who were the targets of rival gangs.

NCA Director of Investigation's Nikki Holland said: "These are people who are causing vast amounts of misery and harm acrossd the UK.

"These are what we would call iconic untouchable, these are people that have worked with impunity and evaded law enforcement and now we have been able to get inside and see exactly what they are doing."

The operation involved law enforcement agencies across Europe and is thought to be the biggest ever against organised crime groups.

One gang it targeted was thought to be smuggling guns and drugs through a network spanning Europe and the United Arab Emirates.

https://news.sky.com/story/operatio...ret-criminal-lives-by-cracking-codes-12019558

 

[MenInG]

Some pretty shocking stuff here - this Eurochat next generation bad thing!

 

[The Viper]

Hundreds arrested as crime chat network cracked

A top-secret communications system used by criminals to trade drugs and guns has been "successfully penetrated", says the National Crime Agency.

The NCA worked with forces across Europe on the UK's "biggest and most significant" law enforcement operation.

Major crime figures were among over 800 Europe-wide arrests after messages on EncroChat were intercepted and decoded.

More than two tonnes of drugs, several dozen guns and £54m in suspect cash have been seized, says the NCA.

While the NCA was part of the investigation, it was initiated and led by French and Dutch police, and also involved Europol - the EU agency for law enforcement cooperation.

Wil van Gemert, deputy executive director of Europol, told a press conference in the Hague that the hacking of the network had allowed the "disruption of criminal activities including violent attacks, corruption, attempted murders and large-scale drug transports".

The NCA says the Europe-wide operation, which lasted over three months and involved police forces across the UK, has had the biggest impact on organised crime gangs it has ever seen, with 746 UK arrests, including two law enforcement officers.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, whose force made 171 arrests and seized £13.3m in cash, described it as a "game changer".

She said: "This is just the beginning. We will be disrupting organised criminal networks as a result of these operations for weeks and months and possibly years to come."

Nikki Holland, NCA director of investigations, said the operational team had described it "as akin to cracking the enigma code".

"They see this as that significant in terms of getting that inside information, effectively having a person inside an organised crime group telling us what they're up to," she said.

'Criminal marketplace'
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.

The NCA says the messaging system has been used as a "criminal marketplace" to co-ordinate the supply of Class A drugs across the world, and import weapons including assault rifles, sub-machine guns, shotguns, pistols and hand grenades.

Law enforcement agencies began getting data from the site on 1 April after the encryption code is believed to have been cracked in March.

Gangs are also believed to have used the handheld devices to plot attacks on rival groups, plan ways of enforcing drug debts and arrange for money to be laundered.

Threats to life detailed on the site included acid attacks and threats to chop off limbs.

Dozens of organised crime groups have been dismantled, says the NCA, with the bulk of arrests in London and north-west England.

Lockdown "worked in our favour", says the agency, in that many more suspects were at home when they were raided.

Many of those arrested are said to form the "middle tier" of crime gangs while some are described as the "Mr and Mrs Bigs" of the underworld.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-53263310

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

£1600/month for an encrypted phone which got busted by the NCA? There is going to be some very angry drug dealers out there, for that sort of layout you should be untouchable.

 

[Technics 1210]

Poor encryption.

Here's the thing, this end-to-end encryption on chat apps, like Whatsapp, are fine, up to the point you backup your chats. The moment you back the chats, the file is clear text as there is no storage encryption in the cloud for these platforms.

Disable chat backups for added security.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Poor encryption.

Here's the thing, this end-to-end encryption on chat apps, like Whatsapp, are fine, up to the point you backup your chats. The moment you back the chats, the file is clear text as there is no storage encryption in the cloud for these platforms.

Disable chat backups for added security.

For £1600/month I think Encrochat should have been advising their clients about that if it was such a clear loophole. Disgraceful and lax service in my opinion.