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OPERATION TROJAN SHIELD: HOW AN APP EXPOSED THE GLOBAL CRIMINAL RACKET

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 6/16/2021 11:53:51 AM

RAJAT VASHISTH Digital sting tactics are tried and true. This statement now truly holds more value because of the astounding success of the 'ANOM Sting Operation'. Trojan Shield was an unprecedented coup, yielding about 800 arrests globally, and leading to the seizure of $48m in cash and cryptocurrencies and more than 32 tonnes of drugs. Not only this, more than 100 murder plots were also thwarted - How? Just by the use of an 'encrypted' app by the drug traffickers to plot their endeavours! They believed the app to be secure but they didn't know that the seller was the FBI. The idea behind Operation Trojan Shield was conceived between the Australian police and the FBI in 2018. From then till date, the digital sting operation is running as a collaboration between law enforcement agencies from several countries. The shutdown of the Canadian secure messaging company 'Phantom Secure' in March 2018 left international criminals in dire need of an alternative system for secure communication and that very opportunity in the form of a market gap was exploited by the FBI to channelise ANOM devices in the underworld. Around the same time, the San Diego FBI branch had been working with a person who had been developing a "nextgeneration" encrypted device for use by criminal networks. It took $120,000 plus expenses, and the opportunity for a reduced prison sentence, for the smartphone developer to collaborate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2018 and kick-start Operation Trojan Shield. The first communication devices with ANOM were offered by the informant to three former distributors of Phantom Secure in October 2018 under the Operation Ironside, as named by API. The ANOM devices consisted of a messaging app running on smartphones that had been specially modified to disable normal functions such as voice telephony, email, or location services. They then communicated with one another via supposedly secure proxy servers, which then copied all sent messages to servers controlled by the FBI who would then decrypt the messages with a private 'master key' without ever needing remote access to the devices. After a slow start, the rate of distribution of ANOM surged from mid-2019. By May 2021, there were about 9,000 ANOM devices in use. During the sting, 9,000 police officers across 18 countries survillienced 27 million messages that were collected from ANOM devices spread across over 100 countries. The operation culminated in search warrants that were executed simultaneously around the globe on 8 June 2021. Over 800 people were arrested in 16 countries who included alleged members of Australianbased Italian mafia, Albanian organised crime, outlaw motorcycle gangs, drug syndicates and other crime groups and many more arrests and seizures are likely to follow. Such a big development drew everyone's attention within a very short span of time. While many commended the FBI and AFP, some criticized the step as well. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the sting operation had "struck a heavy blow against organised crime." Europol also described it as the "biggest ever law enforcement operation against encrypted communication." Whereas many people also raised ethical questions, pointing to the potential of incidental surveillance of innocent people. Indeed, it is one of the most elaborate and sprawling honeypot traps known till date, the entire communications platform was being covertly operated by the FBI. The operation has shone a light on the black market for the privacy-oriented messaging platforms increasingly used by criminals, and demonstrated the lengths to which law enforcement will go to wield their own technologies to crack down on targets. The ANOM operation is likely to rouse suspicion of all communications apps among criminals. Now, that makes it harder to be a criminal from now on.