(Credit: Europol)
An encrypted messaging system that criminals have been using for years has been shut down after law enforcement managed to hack into the network.
On Wednesday, Europol announced it had taken down Ghost, which sold encrypted phones to criminals including mafia groups, drug traffickers, and money launderers.
Ghost, which started around 2015, sold phones to “several thousand people,” giving them a way to communicate privately. This included the ability to self-erase all messages on a phone, preventing law enforcement from recovering the data during forensic investigations.
The phones from Ghost could be sold for a pricey $1,600, which included a six-month subscription to the encrypted messaging network. But in 2022, Europol established a task force to investigate Ghost, which led investigators to identify the network’s servers and begin intercepting messages sent over the encrypted phones.
Authorities apparently exploited the phones' update process. Police in Australia were able to hijack access to the servers and send out a modified update, giving law enforcement a way to backdoor the Ghost devices.
“As a result of our efforts, we will allege that hundreds of criminals, including Italian organized crime, outlaw motorcycle gangs, Middle Eastern organized crime and Korean organized crime have been using Ghost,” said David McLean, Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner, in a press conference.
The takedown effort, dubbed Operation Kraken, also enabled local police in Australia to prevent attacks and targeted killings on as many as 50 individuals. In total, the crackdown has led to the arrest of 51 suspects, including the alleged mastermind behind Ghost, a 32-year-old man, who was arrested in Australia.
“More Australian and international arrests are expected over the coming days,” the Australian Federal Police added.
The dismantling of Ghost occurs after law enforcement shut down two other encrypted platforms that criminals were using called EncroChat and Phantom Secure. Back in 2019, the FBI even resorted to secretly selling its own encrypted phone system, called Anom, to nab criminals.
As a result, Europol expects criminals to start flocking to a “variety of less-established or custom-built communication tools” to avoid the same fate of users who bought phones from Ghost.
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