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by mytailorisrich 1841 days ago
It (encrochat) worked well and the network was brought down when the police go access the the servers (physical access, I believe).

On a side note, conning international criminals carries a level of risk to one's health...

2 comments

It didn't work well. It stored encryption keys centrally and because of that the police was listening in for months without anyone knowing before they shut it down.

For an encrypted phone network that's pretty much the opposite of working well. Even with the servers compromised the network should remain secure. Like it is with Signal and even WhatsApp.

I always wonder why such networks make mistakes like storing key material centrally. I suppose telling a crime lord that he can't have his messages back because he forgot his PIN code is not fun. But neither is having their network cracked by the police I guess.

>conning international criminal carries a level of risk to one's health

True, but so does cooperating with authorities to be a honeypot. Branding yourself as a legitimate business for criminals is a Bad Idea for the very reason encrochat learned. The criminals should be thinking the same way.

> True, but so does cooperating with authorities to be a honeypot

I'm not aware that Encrochat did anything of the sort.