Thousands of people worldwide used Ghost, and around 1,000 messages were sent every day. Users could do this anonymously using special mobile phones – and then have the messages deleted by sending a code to the target phone.
The investigation has been ongoing since 2022, when a task force was set up with law enforcement agencies from Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States. Investigators from Iceland later also helped. The servers were eventually found there and in France. 51 suspects were arrested, 38 of them in Australia, including the 32-year-old alleged programmer of the application. Eleven arrests were made in Ireland, one each in Canada and Italy. Weapons, drugs and one million euros were confiscated.
The investigators have been reading the messages since 2022 and, according to media reports, have prevented 50 murder plots. Europol confirmed that it had prevented a “number of life-threatening situations”.
Recently, several providers of encrypted communication services such as Encrochat, which are popular with criminals, were broken up. As a result, the market has become fragmented, according to Europol. Criminals now use many different, less established providers, which have varying levels of security. Europol stressed that communication platforms must ensure that authorities have access to their data – under judicial supervision and “fully respecting the fundamental rights” of users. They will continue to take decisive action against providers who offer a safe haven for criminals.
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