Discussion

• @seamushughes Seamus Hughes on x

  Let's advance the story a bit w/ some original reporting: An FBI informant introduced Anom to Phantom Secure & Sky Global users in 2018. The informant gave each user a unique ID number, the FBI had full access to that ID list. Working w/ AFP, it was called Operation Trojan Horse …

• @josephfcox Joseph Cox on x

  New: for *years* the FBI has been secretly running an encrypted messaging app used by criminals. Sometimes cops shut down these networks or hack them. Here, the FBI took over it in its infancy and saw it grow across the world, listen to all the messages https://www.vice.com/...

• @theage @theage on x

  Sources told The Age the FBI had been in control of Anom and the AFP were monitoring communications there for an extended period, yielding enormously valuable intelligence before the platform was completely shut down on Tuesday. https://www.theage.com.au/...

• @ashk4n Ashkan Soltani on x

  BREAKING: Police around the world uncover ‘21 murder plots, 3000kg drugs, and $45M in cash/assets’ by tricking criminals onto a backdoored crypto network (An0m) developed by AU Federal police. https://www.abc.net.au/...

• @johnruddick2 John Ruddick on x

  Wow! “More than 220 have been arrested on 526 charges & 3.7 tonnes of drugs, 104 weapons & $45m in cash were allegedly seized in the operation involving more than 4000 police officers ... the most significant policing operation in Australian history”. https://www.smh.com.au/...

• @aravosis @aravosis on x

  This is an awesome story. The FBI, and the Australians, jointly broke into an encrypted messaging app that organized crime was using worldwide for years. The authorities now have 20 million communications by 11,000 people! Lots of people going to jail. https://twitter.com/...

• @chrizap Chris Zappone on x

  More than 220 people have been arrested on 526 charges across Australia and 3.7 tonnes of drugs, 104 weapons, and $45 million in cash were allegedly seized in the operation involving more than 4000 police officers. https://www.theage.com.au/...

• @mollymckew Molly McKew on x

  Super interesting Aussie-American op yielded major results against criminal networks. Now of only everyone would understand why telegram isn't a great place to discuss dissident movements and protests... https://twitter.com/...

• @andydiggle Andy Diggle on x

  Remember that season of The Wire where the cops tricked the perps into buying compromised phones...? Think bigger. https://twitter.com/...

• @troyhunt Troy Hunt on x

  This story is cool from the perspective of law enforcement success, but I fear the word “encryption” is being misrepresented here. Trojan'ing and app and controlling an endpoint where messaging is available in the clear is not an attack against encryption https://www.smh.com.au/.…

• @sub8u Subrahmanyam Kvj on x

  Can't make this up. Australian Police and the FBI ran a fake “secure” messaging app for years. They recruited “criminal influencers”, seeded the app widely. And sat back while scooping up evidence! Fascinating story. A future TV series for sure! https://www.couriermail.com.au/ ..…

• @campuscodi Catalin Cimpanu on x

  🆕The FBI and Australian police ran a fake encrypted chat platform to catch criminal gangs in one of the largest sting operations known to date, known as Operation Ironside The platform, known as Anøm (An0m), had more than 11,000 registered users. https://therecord.media/... https…

• @campuscodi Catalin Cimpanu on x

  Super-relevant tweet, on why the sting operation was shut down. Criminal gangs began catching on there was something wrong with the service https://twitter.com/...

• @josephfcox Joseph Cox on x

  Here is what Anom's website looked like, before it closed down earlier today. An invite code could provide a decent way for law enforcement to keep an operation intercepting communications only on targets or suspected criminals https://www.vice.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @victoriapolice Victoria Police on x

  A snapshot of Victoria Police's involvement in Op Ironside. This global operation has resulted in over 100 organised crime members being charged for using encrypted communications to plot killings, organise mass drug trafficking and gun distribution.→ https://www.afp.gov.au/... h…

• @josephfcox Joseph Cox on x

  Anom offered users encrypted communication. People close to and trusted by organized crime sold Anom devices. But the FBI, and its source, were secretly running the company, and added a master key to the encryption, letting them read millions msgs https://www.vice.com/... https:/…

• @campuscodi Catalin Cimpanu on x

  AFP Operation Ironside page: https://online.afp.gov.au/... AFP press conference: https://www.youtube.com/... More from Europol in a few hours: https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @campuscodi Catalin Cimpanu on x

  Hundreds have been arrested and charged only in Australia alone. I'm expecting the tally to be in the thousands across the world, making this one of the biggest LEA actions to date. https://twitter.com/...

• @jason_kint Jason Kint on x

  Amazing. “The app, known as AN0M, was used by organised crime gangs around the world to plan executions, mass drug importations and money laundering. Authorities say they were able to read up to 25 million messages in real-time.” https://twitter.com/...

• @josephfcox Joseph Cox on x

  Anom started small, just Australia, around 50 devices. But it grew, and especially so when authorities closed Sky, another encrypted network. Eventually Anom, the FBI's honeypot, was active in 90 countries https://www.vice.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @europol @europol on x

  Operation Trojan Shield/OTF Greenlight in numbers: ✔️ 27 million 📩 reviewed ✔️ 700 house searches 🏚️ ✔️ 800 arrests 🚔 ✔️ +30 tons of drugs seized More details: https://ow.ly/... #OperationTrojanShield https://twitter.com/...

• @josephfcox Joseph Cox on x

  Ironically, the people working for Anom said the network was “designed for criminals by criminals” when trying to sell the devices. Allegedly made millions of dollars via company secretly run by FBI https://www.vice.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @emanuelmaiberg Emanuel Maiberg on x

  FBI having the time of its life https://www.vice.com/...

• @seldo Laurie Voss on x

  It wasn't just an app; the FBI was actually distributing customized devices with the app on it via informants. How did nobody ask “hey, who makes these phones?” https://twitter.com/...

• @jason_koebler Jason Koebler on x

  NEW: The FBI encrypted phone network story keeps getting weirder. The DOJ hired a bunch of people to help it run the honeypot company. It's now arresting them, saying they were aiding criminals: https://www.vice.com/...

• @girlsreallyrule Amee Vanderpool on x

  Hundreds arrested in global crime sting after underworld app is hacked: European and Australian police join forces with FBI to seize weapons, drugs and $148m in cash. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

• @europol @europol on x

  🚨Operation Trojan Shield delivers a major blow to organised crime worldwide 🚨 #Europol supported 🇺🇸 @FBISanDiego @DEAHQ 🇳🇱 @Politie 🇸🇪 @Polisen_Sverige 🇦🇺 @AusFedPolice 🌏+16 countries involved in this international, multi-agency effort: https://ow.ly/... #TrojanShield https://twi…

• @ylvajohansson Ylva Johansson on x

  I discussed this extraordinary global success for law enforcement with #JHA @EUCouncil Ministers today. And I will discuss in detail at upcoming 🇪🇺🇺🇸 #JHA summit in Lisbon on 21-22 June. More int. cross-border cooperation between police = protection for citizens @AliMayorkas http…

• @margschinas Margaritis Schinas on x

  Ahead of the EU-US summit, an excellent example of transatlantic cooperation to fight organised crime effectively and across the world. Congratulations @Europol @fbi https://twitter.com/...

• @flexlibris Alison Macrina on x

  it's incredible that no one in this entire mafia network thought, hey maybe we should hire a nerd to test the security of our secret crime phones https://www.vice.com/...