Cybercriminals the world over who were using ANOM thinking it was an encrypted chat app they could use to secure their communications got the surprise of their lives when it turned out the entire deal was an FBI sting operation.
The apps were designed to run on specialized hardware with no other email or voice applications, they could only communicate with other devices using the same app. After initially targeting several high level criminal targets, the ANOM handsets diffused throughout the underworld, and the FBI was intercepting everything traversing them.
Codenamed Operation Ironside, it involved collaboration among police forces across 20 countries since 2019 and culminated in the arrest of over 800 people last week in connection with various criminal conspiracies including murder plots, drug and weapons trafficking.
If this all sounds familiar, recall that almost exactly a year ago the cybercrime underworld was in panic because it turned out that French police had penetrated the Encrochat network, another encrypted chat network crooks were using to plan their activities. (BusinessInsider)
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