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How an Australian "computer geek" created a criminal empire.
The Australian police dealt a powerful blow to the criminal underground, uncovering a massive network of encrypted communications called Ghost. The operation, codenamed Kraken, led to the arrest of dozens of suspects.
The main defendant in the case was 32-year-old Jae Yoon Jung, an Australian citizen living in the suburbs of Sydney. He was detained early Tuesday morning on charges of creating and running a criminal platform. The police acted with lightning speed - the alleged offender was neutralized and electronic devices were seized in a matter of seconds.
Over two days, September 17 and 18, a series of coordinated raids were carried out not only in Australia, but also in Ireland, Italy, Sweden and Canada. By Tuesday morning, the number of detainees in Australia had reached 38 people, with most of them in the state of New South Wales.
According to law enforcement officers, hundreds of criminals, including members of biker gangs and representatives of Italian, Middle Eastern and Korean criminal groups, used Ghost to coordinate drug trafficking and other crimes. Jung, who authorities describe as a "computer geek" with no criminal record, appeared in court on Wednesday. He faces five charges. Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney said the network was created "solely for criminal purposes" and that its creator was motivated by greed. Notably, Jung launched the platform nine years ago when he was only 23 years old.
Ghost was positioned as an "unhackable" network. To get access to it, users purchased modified iPhones for $2350 along with a six-month subscription. However, in March of this year, the police managed to find a "technological solution" to hack the network and decrypt the devices. Specialists reprogrammed software updates, which allowed them to access the content of smartphones in Australia. "Basically, we infected the devices with a virus that allowed us to intercept content on Australian gadgets", McCartney explained.
At the time of the operation, there were 376 active devices in the country, and over the entire existence of the platform, more than 7200 were registered worldwide. Upon completion of the investigation, the platform will be completely liquidated.
Since March, authorities have prevented 50 incidents in which the lives of ordinary people could have been put at risk, including extortion, kidnapping and grievous bodily harm. During a press conference, the assistant commissioner, Kirsty Schofield, recounted how police once found an image of a man with a gun to his head on the platform. Law enforcement officers had only an hour to respond and save the victim. Schofield described the platform as a means to facilitate "the full range of criminal activity", including even cases of domestic violence. Asked what might have happened on the platform before police gained access six months ago, McCartney honestly replied: "We have no information about that".
Source
The Australian police dealt a powerful blow to the criminal underground, uncovering a massive network of encrypted communications called Ghost. The operation, codenamed Kraken, led to the arrest of dozens of suspects.
The main defendant in the case was 32-year-old Jae Yoon Jung, an Australian citizen living in the suburbs of Sydney. He was detained early Tuesday morning on charges of creating and running a criminal platform. The police acted with lightning speed - the alleged offender was neutralized and electronic devices were seized in a matter of seconds.
Over two days, September 17 and 18, a series of coordinated raids were carried out not only in Australia, but also in Ireland, Italy, Sweden and Canada. By Tuesday morning, the number of detainees in Australia had reached 38 people, with most of them in the state of New South Wales.
According to law enforcement officers, hundreds of criminals, including members of biker gangs and representatives of Italian, Middle Eastern and Korean criminal groups, used Ghost to coordinate drug trafficking and other crimes. Jung, who authorities describe as a "computer geek" with no criminal record, appeared in court on Wednesday. He faces five charges. Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney said the network was created "solely for criminal purposes" and that its creator was motivated by greed. Notably, Jung launched the platform nine years ago when he was only 23 years old.
Ghost was positioned as an "unhackable" network. To get access to it, users purchased modified iPhones for $2350 along with a six-month subscription. However, in March of this year, the police managed to find a "technological solution" to hack the network and decrypt the devices. Specialists reprogrammed software updates, which allowed them to access the content of smartphones in Australia. "Basically, we infected the devices with a virus that allowed us to intercept content on Australian gadgets", McCartney explained.
At the time of the operation, there were 376 active devices in the country, and over the entire existence of the platform, more than 7200 were registered worldwide. Upon completion of the investigation, the platform will be completely liquidated.
Since March, authorities have prevented 50 incidents in which the lives of ordinary people could have been put at risk, including extortion, kidnapping and grievous bodily harm. During a press conference, the assistant commissioner, Kirsty Schofield, recounted how police once found an image of a man with a gun to his head on the platform. Law enforcement officers had only an hour to respond and save the victim. Schofield described the platform as a means to facilitate "the full range of criminal activity", including even cases of domestic violence. Asked what might have happened on the platform before police gained access six months ago, McCartney honestly replied: "We have no information about that".
Source
