European Police Bust Criminal Network by Infiltrating Encrypted Chat

Late last week, European law enforcement officials announced that they’ve busted an online crime ring and taken hundreds of alleged criminals into custody. Motherboard has the full story on the operation.

The digital key to the bust: Hacking into EncroChat, a supposedly secure encrypted chat app, and scanning through a hundred million messages. EncroChat has bespoke technology that involves dedicated hardware, a custom OS, and exclusive servers. But European officials still compromised the app.

• The U.K. said the encrypted takedown was its “broadest and deepest” operation, with 746 arrests to date, $67 million, 77 firearms, and over two metric tons of drugs seized.

Taking this Transatlantic

End-to-end encrypted messaging is the source of on-again, off-again battle between Big Tech and D.C. The FBI wants tech companies to build a back door into their products. Tech companies say no. For good reason, they’re worried about backdoor access being abused and potential cybersecurity issues.

Big picture: Breaking into encrypted services more mainstream than EncroChat would likely generate more controversy.