Police raids across Europe after encrypted phone network shut down | Encryption | The Guardian
Police raids across Europe after encrypted phone network shut down
Belgian, Dutch and French police ‘looked over shoulders’ of gangs after hacking Sky ECC network
Sky ECC secured device
Sky ECC denied it had been hacked but said phoney devices sold through unauthorised channels had been compromised by a phishing application. Photograph: Sky ECC
AFP in The Hague
Wed 10 Mar 2021 22.40 GMT
139
Police in Belgium and the Netherlands have arrested at least 80 people and carried out hundreds of raids after shutting down an encrypted phone network used by organised crime groups.
Belgian, Dutch and French police said they had hacked into the Sky ECC network, allowing them to look “over the shoulders” of suspects as they communicated with customised devices to plot drug deals and murders.
“During an action day on Tuesday … numerous house searches and seizures were made in Belgium and the Netherlands,” Europol and its judicial twin agency, Eurojust, said in a statement.
In France, law officials have identified about 2,000 users of Sky ECC “allowing for procedures to be opened relating to large-scale drug operations and attacks on people,” the Paris prosecutor said. “The network we are dealing with seems to be almost exclusively used by large-scale criminals.”
Police launched a top-secret operation to crack the Sky ECC network – which operates over a special phone – and “as of mid-February, authorities have been able to monitor the information flow of approximately 70,000 users,” The Hague-based law agencies said.
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Users paid high subscription prices for the encrypted devices, “up to €2,000 (£1,713) per line and for six months,” the French prosecutor said.
Sky ECC in a statement denied it had been hacked. It said, however, that phoney devices sold through unauthorised channels had been compromised by a phishing application.
“Sky ECC has not been contacted by any investigative authority,” it added, saying the company “has a strict zero-tolerance policy that prohibits any criminal activity on its platforms”.
In Belgium, police raided about 200 homes and arrested at least 48 people. Police confiscated at least 185 devices with Sky ECC encryption.
As part of “Operation Argus” in the Netherlands, police arrested 30 people and searched 75 homes. Police also recovered 28 guns in Rotterdam.
“We managed to crack the crypto communication of crime groups who smuggled large quantities of cocaine and carried out liquidations,” Amsterdam DC Jonne Janssen said. “I’m not talking about being able to read a small amount. I’m talking about hundreds of millions of messages that our now in our hands,” she said in a video statement.
The breakthrough comes after police last year hacked into the EncroChat network, which operated in a similar fashion.
“Many criminals decided to move over to Sky ECC after that,” Europol spokesman Jan Op Gen Oorth told AFP. “But police cracked that too, and it was like being able to look over the criminals’ shoulders as they were sending messages in real time.
“The latest breakthrough and arrests so far is just the tip of the iceberg. Many more are going to follow.”
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Belgian, Dutch and French police ‘looked over shoulders’ of gangs after hacking Sky ECC network
Sky ECC secured device
Sky ECC denied it had been hacked but said phoney devices sold through unauthorised channels had been compromised by a phishing application. Photograph: Sky ECC
AFP in The Hague
Wed 10 Mar 2021 22.40 GMT
139
Police in Belgium and the Netherlands have arrested at least 80 people and carried out hundreds of raids after shutting down an encrypted phone network used by organised crime groups.
Belgian, Dutch and French police said they had hacked into the Sky ECC network, allowing them to look “over the shoulders” of suspects as they communicated with customised devices to plot drug deals and murders.
“During an action day on Tuesday … numerous house searches and seizures were made in Belgium and the Netherlands,” Europol and its judicial twin agency, Eurojust, said in a statement.
In France, law officials have identified about 2,000 users of Sky ECC “allowing for procedures to be opened relating to large-scale drug operations and attacks on people,” the Paris prosecutor said. “The network we are dealing with seems to be almost exclusively used by large-scale criminals.”
Police launched a top-secret operation to crack the Sky ECC network – which operates over a special phone – and “as of mid-February, authorities have been able to monitor the information flow of approximately 70,000 users,” The Hague-based law agencies said.
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Users paid high subscription prices for the encrypted devices, “up to €2,000 (£1,713) per line and for six months,” the French prosecutor said.
Sky ECC in a statement denied it had been hacked. It said, however, that phoney devices sold through unauthorised channels had been compromised by a phishing application.
“Sky ECC has not been contacted by any investigative authority,” it added, saying the company “has a strict zero-tolerance policy that prohibits any criminal activity on its platforms”.
In Belgium, police raided about 200 homes and arrested at least 48 people. Police confiscated at least 185 devices with Sky ECC encryption.
As part of “Operation Argus” in the Netherlands, police arrested 30 people and searched 75 homes. Police also recovered 28 guns in Rotterdam.
“We managed to crack the crypto communication of crime groups who smuggled large quantities of cocaine and carried out liquidations,” Amsterdam DC Jonne Janssen said. “I’m not talking about being able to read a small amount. I’m talking about hundreds of millions of messages that our now in our hands,” she said in a video statement.
The breakthrough comes after police last year hacked into the EncroChat network, which operated in a similar fashion.
“Many criminals decided to move over to Sky ECC after that,” Europol spokesman Jan Op Gen Oorth told AFP. “But police cracked that too, and it was like being able to look over the criminals’ shoulders as they were sending messages in real time.
“The latest breakthrough and arrests so far is just the tip of the iceberg. Many more are going to follow.”
… you’ve read fewer than 5 articles in the last year, so it looks like you’re quite new here. Welcome to the Guardian. We hope you’re finding our reporting valuable. Today, we’d like to take a moment to introduce ourselves a bit better.
Millions turn to the Guardian every day for quality reporting that stands for truth and integrity. Readers tell us how much they value our editorial independence, particularly in these challenging times, when access to trustworthy news has never been more vital. Thanks to our unique ownership structure, we deliver high-impact journalism that’s free from political and commercial influence. With no shareholders or billionaire owner, we can investigate without fear or favour, and amplify stories that need to be told.
And we made a different choice: to keep Guardian journalism open for everyone to read, regardless of where they live or what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe in information equality. Greater numbers of people are staying well-informed on world events, and being inspired to take meaningful action.
Our global readership powers Guardian journalism, and we’re proud to say that we now have supporters in 180 countries. This financial support makes our work possible, and our future more sustainable. But we must keep it going.
