While high-tech smartphones bring many conveniences, they also make criminal activities more sophisticated and harder to track. Criminals have taken advantage of smartphone security features to create encrypted messaging services for secret communication.
One of the most notorious companies offering this was Phantom Secure, which provided “hardened encrypted devices” exclusively for criminal organizations. These devices let criminals exchange information without fear of law enforcement surveillance.
Phantom Secure didn’t just offer encrypted messaging services, their devices were customized to boost security even further. The tight encryption made it extremely difficult for law enforcement to monitor or gather evidence on criminal activities. Shockingly, these devices were even openly sold on their website.
Everything changed in 2018 when Phantom Secure’s CEO was arrested, causing the collapse of their communication network. This arrest left a gap in the market, pushing criminals to search for a new secure messaging service.
The arrest also gave the FBI a valuable insider. This informant revealed that a new encrypted messaging device called Anom was secretly being developed to replace Phantom Secure. The insider agreed to cooperate and provide the system to the FBI in exchange for a reduced sentence.
The FBI and law enforcement agencies worldwide saw this as an opportunity they couldn’t miss.
Instead of trying to break the encryption criminals were using, they decided to take over the market Phantom Secure left behind. This meant the FBI would have direct access to the information criminals were exchanging. This operation was like sneaking a wooden horse into Troy, so it was named “Operation Trojan Shield.”
Thanks to connections with Australian crime groups through their insider, who had been distributing similar encrypted devices, the first batch of Anom phones was distributed. Criminals quickly spread the word about the new device’s reputation.
Sold for $2,000 each, Anom phones were special devices with only one app dedicated to secret communication. Common smartphone features like GPS were removed to ensure anonymity and security. They also had a remote wipe feature to erase all data if seized by law enforcement.
Every message was encrypted using two code strings: a “master key” and a fixed ID linked to the user’s chosen username.
What the criminals didn’t know was that all Anom messages were routed through FBI servers and other participating law enforcement agencies. The FBI even held the master encryption key, allowing them to decrypt all communications.
By the time of the recent arrests, around 12,000 Anom devices had been sold and used by over 300 criminal groups in more than 100 countries, including Italian crime syndicates and international drug trafficking organizations. This shows how much criminals trusted Anom’s encryption.
Between 2019 and 2021, these phones helped the FBI monitor 27 million messages between criminals, along with countless images serving as evidence for drug shipments and other crimes.
This intelligence led to the largest coordinated crackdown ever on criminal organizations worldwide. Over 800 arrests were made across 16 countries recently, with seizures including more than 8 tons of cocaine, 22 tons of cannabis, 2 tons of synthetic drugs, 250 firearms, 55 luxury cars, and over $48 million in various currencies.
Beyond dismantling numerous crime groups, this operation, powered by Anom phones, was described by the FBI as a move that “shook the confidence” of the entire encrypted device industry catering to criminals.
Last year, European law enforcement also infiltrated EncroChat, another encrypted messaging service similar to Anom, shutting it down and arresting many organized crime members. In March, another service called Sky Global, which supplied devices to international drug traffickers, was also taken down.
Source: WSJ
