Ha, wow. “Police said criminal gangs thought the encrypted app called ANOM was safe from snooping when, in fact, authorities for months had been monitoring millions of messages about drug smuggling, money laundering and even planned killings.” https://t.co/4El2WAeaRg

— Martin SFP Bryant (@MartinSFP) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/5RaCVdUh9t pic.twitter.com/je8UcqwUii

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 8, 2021

lmaoooo - the seized website now asks you to put in your details to find out if you're being investigated ;) https://t.co/47ZpIfWWef pic.twitter.com/BphUF0sUJu

— CAMERONWILSON POSTING HIS Ws (@cameronwilson) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/a6pv56OAaL

— The Age (@theage) June 7, 2021

Interestingly the article makes a reference to what maybe a competing (or the next) encrypted chat application sought to be used by OCG, an application called "CIPHR" (ciphr[.]io) - which advertises a lite and desktop client for Mac / Windows / Android / iOS and a whitepaper. https://t.co/cSHIfU653T

— Hacker Fantastic (@hackerfantastic) June 7, 2021

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 https://t.co/gvM9RM1509

— Ylva Johansson (@YlvaJohansson) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/fZ0dszhX3l pic.twitter.com/heTvaZzRaO

— Subrahmanyam KVJ (@SuB8u) June 8, 2021

?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://t.co/HApkAkr4V3 #TrojanShield pic.twitter.com/hE20AFPcox

— Europol (@Europol) June 8, 2021

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 https://t.co/iH4GaTGF60

— Seamus Hughes (@SeamusHughes) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/3fWuBumgX6

— Molly McKew (@MollyMcKew) June 8, 2021

Super-relevant tweet, on why the sting operation was shut down. Criminal gangs began catching on there was something wrong with the servicehttps://t.co/U6fsayLuB5

— Catalin Cimpanu (@campuscodi) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/5RaCVdUh9t pic.twitter.com/bPLKaTsuNw

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 8, 2021

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. pic.twitter.com/RdAihEYQi9

— Catalin Cimpanu (@campuscodi) June 8, 2021

Anøm nom nom. The FBI white-labelled @myWickr and shipped it on an Android device with a ton of logging and reporting, that could've been easily spotted, then convinced criminals all over the world to install it using an influencer and referral program. This is a classic. https://t.co/0Jl0R04hja

— Hacker Fantastic (@hackerfantastic) June 7, 2021

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://t.co/5pMctk3E7X

— Alison Macrina (@flexlibris) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/5RaCVdUh9t pic.twitter.com/HizpzQ52Zl

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 8, 2021

Remember that season of The Wire where the cops tricked the perps into buying compromised phones…?

Think bigger. https://t.co/WJfDEOEIyc

— Andy Diggle (@andydiggle) June 8, 2021

Operation Trojan Shield/OTF Greenlight in numbers:

✔️ 27 million ? reviewed
✔️ 700 house searches ?️
✔️ 800 arrests ?
✔️ +30 tons of drugs seized

More details: https://t.co/odnXlqtjUe #OperationTrojanShield pic.twitter.com/LbJmANiLcD

— Europol (@Europol) June 8, 2021

Per the AFP presser, the FBI ran the platform while AFP experts decrypted messages in real-time.

Here's a copy of the An0m website that went down today.

Obligatory "military grade encryption" mention in there, as you'd expect. pic.twitter.com/whBWAqV0Ao

— Catalin Cimpanu (@campuscodi) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/FBOz4gzvpN

— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/z40rcqC7SO

— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/Jqu4zQcr86

— John Aravosis ?????️‍? (@aravosis) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/q3t2qcyXYi

— Margaritis Schinas (@MargSchinas) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/9gvHbBTYRS

— John Ruddick (@JohnRuddick2) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/YEBFsSVRgM

— chris zappone (@chrizap) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/6c9ptkBv13 pic.twitter.com/WteAJ32we3

— Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/WAg55yjUFi

— ashkan soltani (@ashk4n) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/5RaCVdUh9t

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/8eeZ6o5UxT

— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) June 8, 2021

From the outside, and even if you worked *inside* Anom, it looked just like a normal encrypted phone company. Admins to wipe phones, influencers to spread hype, agents on the ground selling the phones. All being charged now for unknowingly working for FBI https://t.co/jT68PwlQ3O pic.twitter.com/mRNgryZeKR

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 8, 2021

New: the story of how the FBI secretly ran an encrypted phone app for criminals just got wilder. DOJ now charging people who worked for the company, including 'influencers' who sold phones. Lumped with big charges; they were working for the FBI all along https://t.co/jT68PwlQ3O

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 8, 2021

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://t.co/jT68PwlQ3O pic.twitter.com/dTU6un7flg

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 8, 2021

"Anom has generated the Defendants millions of dollars in profit by facilitating the criminal activity of transnational criminal organizations"

Unknowingly, these people thinking they were making millions were working for the FBI, and now being chargedhttps://t.co/jT68PwlQ3O pic.twitter.com/8VEL5frFpy

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 8, 2021

Court records detail how the FBI turned encrypted phone company 'Anom' into a honeypot for organized crime. https://t.co/3PnVcmkuud

— Motherboard (@motherboard) June 8, 2021

I wonder how many millions of dollars were made, if people died, and how many people got away.

The FBI running secret crime networks doesn’t prevent the crime that you think it would. https://t.co/IGjZSwezhw

— patent disliker (@twocatsand_docs) June 8, 2021

FBI honeypot #ANOM collected messages from users. more than 20 million messages from over 11,800 devices. Beyond its Australian beginnings, over 10,000 devices in more than 90 countries. Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Serbia were popular.#infosec https://t.co/v66M5Tq87l

— 41,6e,6f,6e,5f,52,65,61,6c (@An0n_Real_) June 8, 2021

When Anom started, the FBI needed it to get customers. The source who created the company introduced it to people who previously sold Phantom phones; Phantom was dead, there was a void. Anom could take over their user base https://t.co/5RaCVdUh9t pic.twitter.com/kxfAbiUOMw

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 8, 2021

WILD: the @AusFedPolice & @FBI secretly ran a backdoored encrypted phone service.. for criminals.

Got thousands of users around globe

Now charges are starting to drop. THREAD

Report by @josephfcox: https://t.co/nmmSWGrNz8 pic.twitter.com/gfdBg4gC9d

— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) June 8, 2021

. @josephfcox slides into DMs and makes a random Twitter user’s thread a good story. https://t.co/qnxkn8Spqz

— Seamus Hughes (@SeamusHughes) June 8, 2021

THE FBI RAN AN ENCRYPTED PHONE NETWORK FOR CRIMINALS FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS

- every message sent via 'Anom' was intercepted
- more than 20 million messages from over 11800 deviceshttps://t.co/doIjqp0DKD
archive: https://t.co/saXzZg8ffT https://t.co/PzXpc4yc54

— no bullshit bitcoin (@nobsbitcoin) June 8, 2021

"For years the FBI has secretly run an encrypted communications app used by organized crime in order to surreptitiously collect its users' messages and monitor criminals' activity on a massive scale"#OK #Crime #Cybersechttps://t.co/Bt78Ga32Nz

— Christian Unger (@KryzUnger) June 8, 2021

?The FBI took control of an encrypted communications app called '#Anom' and turned it into a honeypot for crooks, netting more than 20 million messages from over 11,800 devices used by suspected criminals.

Massive arrests are ensuing.?https://t.co/8gdmsqLphX

— Dena Grayson, MD, PhD (@DrDenaGrayson) June 8, 2021

All to do some drug busts. The war on drugs remains a primary driver of government surveillance. I personally think we should just legalize all drugs. https://t.co/6LAC38D3lU

— abolish the filibuster (@onekade) June 8, 2021

That’s crazy https://t.co/zo1m4m1eyl

— ? (@gum_mp3) June 8, 2021

Are supply chain attacks good or bad this week https://t.co/81jyEyqtsT

— Kevin Beaumont (@GossiTheDog) June 8, 2021

We have significantly more details about the encrypted phone network for criminals honeypot the FBI has been running for the last few years:https://t.co/c9yk7CY5qU

— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) June 8, 2021

The Department of Justice conference on Operation Trojan Shield, where the FBI secretly ran an encrypted messaging app for criminals for years, is just starting now. Here's our piece from last night on the background: https://t.co/5RaCVdCFKT pic.twitter.com/TbQrWmM92d

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 8, 2021

‘An0m’ Encrypted-Chat Sting Leads to Arrest of 800 #Cybersecurity #security https://t.co/whYcaMrCbi

— Bob Carver ✭ (@cybersecboardrm) June 8, 2021

‘An0m’ Encrypted-Chat Sting Leads to Arrest of 800 https://t.co/U4TSY0tRl2 #vulnerabilities #hacks #security #malware #privacy #ransomware #databreach #iot #nsa #infosec #phishing #0day #privacy #cybersecurity

— Lance Schukies (@LanceSchukies) June 8, 2021

Operation Trojan Shield

FBI encrypted phone app leads to hundreds of global underworld arrests https://t.co/rM5LdNaWal via @nypost

— Cara TXZEAL (@Cara_TXZEAL) June 8, 2021

FBI encrypted phone app leads to hundreds of global underworld arrests https://t.co/Xbi480UXNj pic.twitter.com/S8AL5HCN90

— New York Post (@nypost) June 8, 2021

FBI encrypted phone app leads to hundreds of global underworld arrestshttps://t.co/MOcMNB4OJA

— RPK Report (@RPKReport) June 8, 2021

Solid grift. Let's hope the NSA isn't doing that with some cryptohttps://t.co/JYMcAwzVPu

— Robbie Bernstein (@RobbieTheFire) June 8, 2021

Here’s a question. When was the last time you saw a PM doing a police press conference on a crime syndicate bust?Howard didn’t.I didn’t.Counter-terrorism yes.But this is a crude agenda shift away from Morrison’s real job on quarantine,vaccine and aged care https://t.co/avmtWHLn9L

— Kevin Rudd (@MrKRudd) June 8, 2021

I can't get enough of this story.

Australian Federal Police and FBI nab criminal underworld figures in worldwide sting using encrypted app https://t.co/zro1SO6GM3

— Ben Gubana (@bengubana) June 8, 2021

AFP & @FBI used #AN0M messaging app as a sting, gathering intel on drugs, guns & terrorism for 3 yrs. They came up with the plan while drinking.
"Some of the best ideas come over a couple of beers"
-@AusFedPolice Commissioner Reece Kershaw
Well done ?????https://t.co/dt1yGXlw64

— Tom (@TomD_SEA) June 8, 2021

The app, AN0M, was used by organised crime gangs around the ? to plan executions, mass drug imports &?laundering.

Authorities were able to read 25M messages in real time.
They uncovered 21 murder plots & seized +3K kilos of drugs & $45M in?& assets.https://t.co/D3M5Tfbqch pic.twitter.com/Az8HfNswKu

— ? Benjamin? (@buffalobenny) June 8, 2021

Australian Federal Police and FBI nab criminal underworld figures in worldwide sting using encrypted app https://t.co/xJlIy3nVvr Good work. Now please turn your attention to the most dangerous organised crime group in #Australia. Here's the wanted poster. #AuspolSoCorrupt pic.twitter.com/YzRH7Jgked

— Ming The Merciless????✡️ (@MGliksmanMDPhD) June 8, 2021

?
FBI has run an encrypted phone company marketed to criminals for years & they've harvested all communications through a secret master key.

Now they're arresting criminals all over the world including its own staff who went too far.https://t.co/99H10PtqaG #CyberSecurity #Anom

— Duminda Jayasena (@dumindaxsb) June 9, 2021

The defendants thought they worked for Anom, an encrypted phone company marketed to criminals. But the FBI was in control, and now the DOJ is charging them. https://t.co/v61hefi11L

— VICE (@VICE) June 8, 2021

The defendants thought they worked for Anom, an encrypted phone company marketed to criminals. But the FBI was in control, and now the DOJ is charging them. https://t.co/o2Jyump65q

— Motherboard (@motherboard) June 9, 2021

The FBI and Australian federal Police ran a backdoored “Swiss” encrypted messaging platform. After #CryptoAG, another blow at the trustworthiness of the Swiss cybersecurity industry. https://t.co/6fFmdHnkbm https://t.co/PviBIWT7C2

— Frederic Jacobs (@FredericJacobs) June 8, 2021

So much about police "going dark". Interesting question is how large the collateral damage is: messages from innocent citizens and NGOs that also got picked up. Trojan Shield: How the FBI Secretly Ran a Phone Network for Criminals https://t.co/9tY2PXucEt via @vice

— Bart Preneel (@bpreneel1) June 8, 2021

「トロイの木馬の盾作戦」FBIによる起訴状からわかる犯罪組織ネットワークの通信傍受。(ｷﾘｯ
(かっこいい…。) #小並感?#TrojanShield: How the FBI Secretly Ran a Phone Network for Criminalshttps://t.co/9ocXtrBqeP by @josephfcox via @motherboard

— Ken Sugar? (@ken_sugar) June 8, 2021

Trojan Shield amounted to a comprehensive supply chain compromise operation that incorporated strong elements of later-stage target discrimination. https://t.co/opdzBqxmUX

— Horkos @ the Centre for Unilateral Analysis (@WylieNewmark) June 8, 2021

Trojan Shield: How the FBI Secretly Ran a Phone Network for Criminals #infosec https://t.co/cOoRYVQJrW

— Ty (@tyrus_) June 8, 2021

Before seeing this court record, I was looking through Anom's social media presence, as Australian media reports on the operation came out. Found a Reddit post from years ago announcing the company, here it is. Unbeknownst to users this was an FBI honeypot https://t.co/5RaCVdUh9t pic.twitter.com/nEkruPCQam

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 8, 2021

Late Monday, the DOJ announced to journalists it would be holding a press conference on a massive takedown on encrypted comms. Obviously this is the operation where the FBI ran its own encrypted app company https://t.co/5RaCVdCFKT pic.twitter.com/TTcUVerR3K

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 8, 2021

Trojan Shield: How the FBI Secretly Ran a Phone Network for Criminals https://t.co/OIOFgLAuoS via @vice #CyberSecurity #infosec #smarthome #smartphone #blockchain #crime @HeinzVHoenen @BernardMarr @rwang0 @andy_fitze @AmitDugh @schmarzo @RichardEudes @Ronald_vanLoon pic.twitter.com/KrmGN5jsWB

— Mike de Waal (@globaliqx) June 8, 2021

The FBI had fun with this https://t.co/5RaCVdCFKT pic.twitter.com/BHSigphEgL

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 8, 2021

FBI encrypted phone app leads to hundreds of global underworld arrests https://t.co/jlFDESPqTZ pic.twitter.com/nUQmQpkJqD

— New York Post (@nypost) June 9, 2021

#OperationTrojanShield
The Australian newspaper reported that arrests of suspected members of South American drug cartels as well as Middle Eastern and European crime syndicates are expected to be announced throughout the day.https://t.co/hreUXV8WsY

— (((Maferegas))) (@maferegas) June 8, 2021

FBI encrypted phone app leads to hundreds of global underworld arrests https://t.co/OtbUXcxydW via @nypost

— Scout Finch (@JayHiggies) June 8, 2021

Major blow to crime figures by AFP https://t.co/EIvfWCOctg pic.twitter.com/BW7dleYBHe

— OCN ?? (@ozcrimenews) June 8, 2021

Outstanding operation by AFP & FBI, take down underworld figures with links to South American drug cartels, Triads and Middle Eastern & European criminal syndicates. were tricked into communicating via an encrypted app that had been designed by police. https://t.co/ZJ5dBx86Jd

— Jose L Sousa-Santos (@JLSousaSantos) June 7, 2021