Canada: High Ranking RCMP Official Arrested After Vancouver Company Sold Encrypted Cellphones to International Drug Traffickers and Money Launderers
September 17th, 2019If the devices are so secure, why are we reading about this?
Hmm…
Via: CBC:
The investigation into top RCMP civilian official Cameron Ortis began with a shadowy, multimillion-dollar Vancouver-based company run by Canadians that sold encrypted cellphones to drug traffickers and money launderers around the world.
The key figures behind Phantom Secure Communications even used modified versions of Canada’s iconic Blackberry devices to help their international criminal clientele evade police.
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At the heart of the system was Canada’s iconic Blackberry.
Phantom Secure took the Blackberry phones, installed sophisticated encryption software and routed the data through encryption servers located in countries the company believed were unco-operative with law enforcement.
Police estimate that in 2018 there were at least 10,000 Phantom Secure devices in use worldwide, with users paying $4,000 a year for the service.
But not just anyone could buy these phones. Prospective customers had to be vouched for by an existing client, which prosecutors said helped restrict Phantom Secure’s customer base to those who wanted to use the device for criminal activity.
Prosecutors said Phantom Secure maintained its servers in Panama and Hong Kong, using proxy servers to further disguise the location of its servers.
The company helped drug trafficking and money laundering in Australia, Asia, Europe, the United States and Canada, concealing its proceeds through cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
More: There’s Something Rotten in the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance
Research Credit: EB
