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   Europol mapped a criminal network by analyzing encrypted comms - and then   
   seized an entire hotel while busting a multi-million euro laundering ring   
      
   Date:   
   Tue, 12 Aug 2025 13:03:22 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   Messages obtained in the Sky ECC takedown over four years ago are still being   
   used to crack cybercriminal organizations.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Europol has conducted several raids against a prolific organized crime    
   network involved in the trafficking of cocaine and laundered money.    
      
   The raids led to the arrest of 10 suspects and the seizure of an entire   
   tourist hotel, as well as numerous other real estate sites and over 100,000   
   ($116,106) in cash.    
      
   But the secret to the success of the operation stemmed from analyzing   
   encrypted communications from a chat network that shut down over four years   
   ago.   
      
   Communication network analysis    
      
   The encrypted communications network in question is the Sky ECC network   
   operated by Sky Global.    
      
   The network was shut down by law enforcement in 2021 due to the platforms use   
   by international criminal organizations to facilitate drug trafficking.   
   Indictments and arrest warrants were issued to Sky Globals CEO, Jean-Franois   
   Eap, and a former distributor, Thomas Herdman.    
      
   Alongside the seizure of the website, law enforcement also confiscated a    
   trove of hundreds of millions of messages sent between thousands of criminals   
   using the Sky ECC app, which protected its messages with 512-bit   
   elliptic-curve cryptography . It is these messages that are still being used   
   by Europol in Operation Sky ECC , and Operational Task Force LIMIT.    
      
   Europol has launched numerous subsequent crackdowns on criminal organizations   
   across Europe using metadata analysis from the message trove.    
      
   In this particular Europol operation , led by the Albanian SPAK,    
   investigators from Albania, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands used   
   communication data to identify the location of multi-ton deliveries of    
   cocaine from South America to ports in the EU, for which one target of the   
   operation received upwards of $40 million. The delivery ports included major   
   hubs such as Antwerp and Rotterdam.    
      
   Included in the suspects arrested was the leader of the criminal    
   organization, who was also wanted in Italy for murder, deprivation of    
   liberty, attempted hiding of a corpse, threats, illegal possession of   
   explosives and ammunition as well as obstruction of justice.    
      
   This operation, and the case of Sky ECC, highlights the thin line between   
   using encrypted communications to ensure data privacy and prevent corporate    
   or governmental overreach, and abusing data privacy to operate an   
   international criminal ring responsible for drugs trafficking and laundering   
   hundreds of millions of euros.   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/europol-mapped-a-criminal-network-by-an   
   alyzing-encrypted-comms-and-then-seized-an-entire-hotel-while-busting-a-multi-   
   million-euro-laundering-ring   
      
   $$   
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