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It wasn’t just an app, Encrochat sold a modified android phone that had its camera and GPS physically removed and its custom app pre-installed. Based on the ar
by save_ferris 6y ago
It wasn’t just an app, Encrochat sold a modified android phone that had its camera and GPS physically removed and its custom app pre-installed.
Based on the article, Encrochat didn’t sound like a fully legitimate company and may have been run by criminals as well. The part I found interesting is how these vendors often block competitor apps and services from working on their phones, essentially requiring everyone to use the same type of modified phone. This made life a lot easier for investigators once the network was penetrated.
- gruez 6y ago>It wasn’t just an app, Encrochat sold a modified android phone that had its camera and GPS physically removed I doubt that provides significant value. Cameras aren't too hard to disable yourself, just use black tape. They probably didn't disable to microphones, which arguably provide at least more valuable information than a camera. They removed the GPS module, but you can probably get the same info with better accuracy by using wifi + cell phone signals. All in all, I think those "features" are just there to make criminals feel better.
- ponker 6y agoBut it’s verifiable for your counterparty. If you’re on Encrochat you know that your counterparty has no GPS in their phone.
- gruez 6y agoBut what's the threat model here? That your counterparty's phone has been compromised? In that case they can be leaking location through wifi/cell signals as mentioned earlier. There's also nothing preventing the counterparty from carrying a gps-enabled phone with him, which would be trivially linked to his Encrochat phone if he takes them both to the same locations.