3 ms·

This article is so full of vague information and flat-out wrong information, I recommend reading another one. It reads like it's written by someone who skimmed

This article is so full of vague information and flat-out wrong information, I recommend reading another one. It reads like it's written by someone who skimmed three other news articles without really comprehending what's going on, then wrote whatever. Police never "shut down" Sky ECC, especially not prior to the raid.

sva_ 6y ago
This article is quite interesting https://www.politico.eu/article/cryptophone-firm-dismisses-belgian-claims-of-cracked-drug-traffickers-messages/ https://www.politico.eu/article/cryptophone-firm-dismisses-b... Sky ECC denies the breach (see also [0]): > "a fake phishing application falsely branded as Sky ECC was illegally created, modified and side-loaded onto unsecure devices" The belgian police claims: > Sky ECC's claims were "bullshit." > So confident were the police that they broke Sky ECC's code, they said they sent the firm their bank account details to claim a $5 million (€4.2 million) bug bounty Sky ECC promised to pay out to security researchers that had managed it. Quite ballsy. > “The work is only starting,” a spokesperson for the Belgian judicial police had said Tuesday, adding that many more investigations were likely to follow as the decrypted messages yielded more leads. I don't see why they'd give those criminals this notice to prepare. I'd assume a bunch of surprise house-visits would be more effective, if they have all this info. The story smells somewhat fishy from both ends. Good drama though. If they really breached Sky ECC's security, they should be able to prove this by solving a cryptographic challenge by them. [0] https://www.skyecc.com/sky-ecc-platform-remains-secure-and-no-authorized-sky-ecc-device-has-been-hacked/ https://www.skyecc.com/sky-ecc-platform-remains-secure-and-n...
- kc0bfv 6y ago
  In a cop show, they'd bust everyone they could with the info they have. Then they'd say something publicly like, "the work is only starting", to make the folks they can't bust nervous enough to do something stupid. The Galaxy brain move is maybe to realize that this news will cause the crims to move to a new network, and to have one waiting for them. E:sp
  - throwaway0a5e 6y ago
    In the levels of government of which the bureaucrats and appointees in charge of this operation are a part creating grandiose publicity for career purposes with no intention of following through and every intention of leaving it for the next guy to mop up is far more common than "galaxy brain" moves.
- reeeeee 6y ago
  This is actually a very big thing in Belgium at the moment ([0]). > I don't see why they'd give those criminals this notice to prepare. I'd assume a bunch of surprise house-visits would be more effective, if they have all this info. This actually happened ([1]). In 1 huge operation, 1600 agents performed 200 house searches. This resulted in 48 arrests. [0] https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/dossiers/2021/03/politieoperatie-sky/ https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/dossiers/2021/03/politieoperati... [1] https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2021/03/09/huiszoekingen-200-1500-agenten/ https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2021/03/09/huiszoekingen-200-15...
- varispeed 6y ago
  My guess is that some of those people could have worked with governments (e.g. having "permission" to deal drugs and do other stuff in exchange for a cut) so they got time to cover their tracks.

sva_ 6y ago

This article is quite interesting https://www.politico.eu/article/cryptophone-firm-dismisses-belgian-claims-of-cracked-drug-traffickers-messages/ https://www.politico.eu/article/cryptophone-firm-dismisses-b... Sky ECC denies the breach (see also [0]): > "a fake phishing application falsely branded as Sky ECC was illegally created, modified and side-loaded onto unsecure devices" The belgian police claims: > Sky ECC's claims were "bullshit." > So confident were the police that they broke Sky ECC's code, they said they sent the firm their bank account details to claim a $5 million (€4.2 million) bug bounty Sky ECC promised to pay out to security researchers that had managed it. Quite ballsy. > “The work is only starting,” a spokesperson for the Belgian judicial police had said Tuesday, adding that many more investigations were likely to follow as the decrypted messages yielded more leads. I don't see why they'd give those criminals this notice to prepare. I'd assume a bunch of surprise house-visits would be more effective, if they have all this info. The story smells somewhat fishy from both ends. Good drama though. If they really breached Sky ECC's security, they should be able to prove this by solving a cryptographic challenge by them. [0] https://www.skyecc.com/sky-ecc-platform-remains-secure-and-no-authorized-sky-ecc-device-has-been-hacked/ https://www.skyecc.com/sky-ecc-platform-remains-secure-and-n...

kc0bfv 6y ago
In a cop show, they'd bust everyone they could with the info they have. Then they'd say something publicly like, "the work is only starting", to make the folks they can't bust nervous enough to do something stupid. The Galaxy brain move is maybe to realize that this news will cause the crims to move to a new network, and to have one waiting for them. E:sp
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  In the levels of government of which the bureaucrats and appointees in charge of this operation are a part creating grandiose publicity for career purposes with no intention of following through and every intention of leaving it for the next guy to mop up is far more common than "galaxy brain" moves.
reeeeee 6y ago
This is actually a very big thing in Belgium at the moment ([0]). > I don't see why they'd give those criminals this notice to prepare. I'd assume a bunch of surprise house-visits would be more effective, if they have all this info. This actually happened ([1]). In 1 huge operation, 1600 agents performed 200 house searches. This resulted in 48 arrests. [0] https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/dossiers/2021/03/politieoperatie-sky/ https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/dossiers/2021/03/politieoperati... [1] https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2021/03/09/huiszoekingen-200-1500-agenten/ https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2021/03/09/huiszoekingen-200-15...
varispeed 6y ago
My guess is that some of those people could have worked with governments (e.g. having "permission" to deal drugs and do other stuff in exchange for a cut) so they got time to cover their tracks.