A murder order in an encrypted chat turned into a prison for bandits
According to court documents released recently in the United States , in 2020, an Iranian drug dealer and two alleged mercenaries from Canada planned to kill two people. To coordinate their actions, the group used the encrypted Sky ECC telephone network, which was traditionally associated at that time with the activities of professional criminal groups.
After the hacking of the network by the police of Belgium and the Netherlands in 2021, most of the bandits against whom there was enough evidence were arrested, and the network itself was then liquidated and has not been available for use since.
The indictment cites reports from Sky ECC in which Iranian drug dealer Naji Sharifi Zindashti and Canadian Hells Angels motorcycle club member Damion Patrick John Ryan discussed some "work", "equipment", " tools "and ways to"make money". Ryan mentioned the difficulties of completing the task in the United States, but expressed his willingness to find a performer.
In the course of the correspondence, a reward of $ 350,000 was agreed, as well as covering the cost of the trip in the amount of $ 20,000. Soon the potential "executor" of the order was found, it turned out to be another Canadian named Adam Richard Pearson.
However, the accomplices did not succeed in carrying out their plans, as all three were arrested, and on charges of several other criminal acts. And with the disclosure of the Sky platform, accusations against would-be criminals have only been added.
The Sky ECC network differed from the usual encrypted chat platforms in that it was positioned as super-secure, and it was possible to use it only with a paid subscription, which cost users thousands of dollars. In this regard, it is especially funny that the network was able to "cover" the police: for what such money then, please find out? Although I don't think the bandits would appreciate such a joke.
In recent years, law enforcement agencies around the world have been conducting sophisticated operations against companies that provide encrypted telephone services. Along with Sky ECC, other high-profile cases of closed secure platforms were the elimination of ANOM and EncroChat instant messengers .
The disclosure of information about various crimes even years later only underlines the scale of the problem: so much evidence was found in Sky ECC that they are still being analyzed and used in indictments.
In the pursuit of profit, bandits are willing to pay a lot of money for "reliable" communication channels, but all their tricks are ultimately futile: they not only fail in their plans, but also lose their freedom.
It is hardly possible to say that there are methods of ensuring complete confidentiality of correspondence on the modern Internet at all, so it is clearly not worth discussing something dubious or illegal online.
According to court documents released recently in the United States , in 2020, an Iranian drug dealer and two alleged mercenaries from Canada planned to kill two people. To coordinate their actions, the group used the encrypted Sky ECC telephone network, which was traditionally associated at that time with the activities of professional criminal groups.
After the hacking of the network by the police of Belgium and the Netherlands in 2021, most of the bandits against whom there was enough evidence were arrested, and the network itself was then liquidated and has not been available for use since.
The indictment cites reports from Sky ECC in which Iranian drug dealer Naji Sharifi Zindashti and Canadian Hells Angels motorcycle club member Damion Patrick John Ryan discussed some "work", "equipment", " tools "and ways to"make money". Ryan mentioned the difficulties of completing the task in the United States, but expressed his willingness to find a performer.
In the course of the correspondence, a reward of $ 350,000 was agreed, as well as covering the cost of the trip in the amount of $ 20,000. Soon the potential "executor" of the order was found, it turned out to be another Canadian named Adam Richard Pearson.
However, the accomplices did not succeed in carrying out their plans, as all three were arrested, and on charges of several other criminal acts. And with the disclosure of the Sky platform, accusations against would-be criminals have only been added.
The Sky ECC network differed from the usual encrypted chat platforms in that it was positioned as super-secure, and it was possible to use it only with a paid subscription, which cost users thousands of dollars. In this regard, it is especially funny that the network was able to "cover" the police: for what such money then, please find out? Although I don't think the bandits would appreciate such a joke.
In recent years, law enforcement agencies around the world have been conducting sophisticated operations against companies that provide encrypted telephone services. Along with Sky ECC, other high-profile cases of closed secure platforms were the elimination of ANOM and EncroChat instant messengers .
The disclosure of information about various crimes even years later only underlines the scale of the problem: so much evidence was found in Sky ECC that they are still being analyzed and used in indictments.
In the pursuit of profit, bandits are willing to pay a lot of money for "reliable" communication channels, but all their tricks are ultimately futile: they not only fail in their plans, but also lose their freedom.
It is hardly possible to say that there are methods of ensuring complete confidentiality of correspondence on the modern Internet at all, so it is clearly not worth discussing something dubious or illegal online.
