Encrypted Chat An0m was a FBI honeypot Used to take down global criminal network | Hacker News Reader

Encrypted Chat An0m was a FBI honeypot Used to take down global criminal network

abc.net.au

52 pointsrmm17 comments

For the past few years, Australian police have been loudly whinging to journalists about their inability to tap encrypted messaging apps, and demanding parliament give them all kinds of Orwellian powers to force developers to add back doors. This puts a whole new light on that! Let's hope it was reverse psychology directed at the crooks, and they'll stop it from now on.

This story is wild.

The AFP and FBI apparently hatched up this encrypted chat app between them, then seeded it into the criminal world through undercover agents passing it on to a known drug trafficker.

Three years later it's ended up with 11,000 people using it all over the world, all their conversations going straight into the rozzas' databases. Hundreds of simultaneous raids and arrests across 18 countries.

apparently the idea came together after having 'a couple of beers'. Very Australian.

  ...the idea for the AN0M app was developed 'over a couple of beers' between Australia and US law enforcement officers in 2018.

  "I wasn't there, but as you know, some of the best ideas come over a couple of beers," Commissioner Kershaw said.

Honestly I burst out laughing at that quote. I'm sure many devs here can attest to the wild ideas that come out of after work beers that often end up being hilariously useful.

I mean it does seem like the kind of thing where it's an obviously good idea for them to do, it's all about the implementation

It is quite interesting, that they were consuming drugs while discussing how to persecute others for using different drugs.

It is quite interesting, that they were rearranging valence electrons in atoms, while discussing how to persecute others for doing the same thing with different atoms.

Ahh yes, take it one step further to brush off the meaning. People persecute others for using some certain drugs but not other certain drugs, I'm simply highlighting that fact. Its particularly amusing when the same "drug warrior" types who would have been the ones breaking open barrels in the 20s are now openly drinking with each other.

You may have a lot of preconceptions about different drugs, but I don't know what they are.

Mine are probably different from yours, and from most peoples'.

If I read correctly between the lines, while the FBI had 'the lead' on the app, the ability to decrypt was made possible by amendments to Australian Telecoms legislation (TOLA) in 2018, and hence the Australia (via the AFP) was the only country legally allowed to intercept this communication ('AFP provided the technical ability'). Can someone with more in-depth knowledge confirm if this is accurate?

Why is the trick revealed now? What incentive did they have instead of continuing the covert op?

Has anyone found the app?

EDIT: Website https://www.anom.io/ (presumably the app has been taken off of app stores).

https://web.archive.org/web/20210607233427/http://anom.io/

Wayback link to the former splash page—doesn't look like the main site has been archived

This might not be 100% correct, but from what I understand it was never on an app store, rather the phone was sold and distributed as is - an untraceable phone with apps preinstalled

Ok found my source:

> The Australian Federal Police then planted the devices with the pre-loaded AN0M into the hands of criminals by using several key criminal “influencers” – Australia’s Mafia Man, and Sydney fugitive Hakan Ayik, who is hiding out in Turkey.

> Sydney fugitive Hakan Ayik, who is hiding out in Turkey, was one of AN0M’s biggest spruikers to the criminal underworld. Sydney fugitive Hakan Ayik, who is hiding out in Turkey, was one of AN0M’s biggest spruikers to the criminal underworld. Police say Ayik and Mafia Man convinced their associates to use the devices, a move which gave police real-time access to every message, photograph or voice-message sent.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/operation-irons...

Some cached copies of their site:

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kifZOX...

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:cMhBFd...

An "expose" on how unsafe it is:

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:bP-g6V...

Their twitter is empty:

https://twitter.com/anomsecure?lang=en

But there is a post on reddit "introducing" their app 2021-04-04

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:CJ5FSW...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-08/fbi-afp-underworld-cr...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIUOoXIWlr0

Wild!

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