HOW FBI SOLD ENCRYPTED CELLPHONES TO CRIMINALS TO APPREHEND THEM
The Criminals Thought the Devices Were Secure. But the Seller Was the F.B.I.
Criminals around the world relied on devices that supposedly allowed them to send encrypted messages and organize illegal activity in plain language. Unknown to them, the entire network was run by the FBI.
Crazy. Since 2019 the FBI has been selling encrypted cellphones to criminals to better track them. Today, security agencies revealed that they have intercepted over 20 million messages and arrested at least 800 people in more than a dozen countries
The FBI ran an impressive tech company. Procured devices and built an app for secure end to end communication designed for organized crime use cases, but the FBI maintained the network and retained a master key.
A 3 year operation, 9,000 active devices with users in more than 90 countries, 200 million messages intercepted with 800 arrests, it will be interested to get hold of a book that goes into all of the juicy details.
9000 devices, but only 800 arrests? That’s less than 10% apprehension rate! What happened to the other 8200 people who used the devices & got away?
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