Europol and Eurojust, together with police and judicial authorities from nine countries, successfully exposed yesterday another encrypted communication platform - Ghost, which enabled criminal networks to safely carry out organized criminal activities on a global level.
That platform was a tool for activities such as large-scale drug trafficking, money laundering, extreme violence and other forms of serious crime, explained the European Union Law Enforcement Agency - Europol.
They explained that thanks to advanced security features, Ghost became popular among criminal organizations, and that users could purchase the tool without providing personal information, and the platform allowed communication through encrypted messages, which were automatically deleted on the target device, thus could avoid detection and forensic measures.
The executive director of Europol, Katrin De Bol, said that with this action they clearly showed that, no matter how hidden the criminal networks think they are, they cannot avoid their collective effort.
"Police authorities from nine countries, together with Europol, dismantled a tool that was a lifeline for serious organized crime. This operation is the essence of what Europol stands for: turning cooperation into concrete results by bringing together the right people, tools and expertise to cover every dimension this complex operation. The work we have done is part of our ongoing commitment to fight organized crime wherever it operates. I want to express our gratitude to all our global partners who have played a key role in the success of this operation," she said.
Europol explains that Ghost used three levels of encryption and offered the possibility of sending messages accompanied by a specific code, which would lead to the self-destruction of all messages on the target phone.
They add that on a global level, several thousand people used that tool, which had its own infrastructure and applications with a network of sellers based in several countries, and that about a thousand messages were exchanged daily via the Ghost platform.
Europol points out that the multinational effort covered nine countries, and since the servers were found in France and Iceland, the company's owners were located in Australia, and the financial resources were in the United States of America, a global operation against the telephone service was launched.
"The demolition of the platform involved a series of coordinated raids and technical interventions. During the investigation, 51 suspects were arrested - 38 in Australia, 11 in Ireland, one in Canada and one in Italy, who is a member of the Italian mafia group Sacra Corona Unita".
Europol points out that further arrests are expected as the investigation progresses. They claim that by carrying out the action, they prevented numerous threats to life, broke up a drug production laboratory in Australia, seized weapons, drugs and over a million euros in cash on a global level.
"In order to facilitate investigations of illegal activities enabled by this communication platform, an Operational Task Force (OTF) was established at Europol in March 2022, which includes law enforcement authorities from Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and The task force was instrumental in mapping the global technical infrastructure and successfully targeting key suppliers and users of the platform, tracking its criminal use and conducting a coordinated effort to shut it down, all under the judicial oversight of the Joint Investigative Team (JIT). based on law enforcement cooperation, the JIT was established between French and American authorities in January 2024 with the support of Eurojust and Europol.
This complex, global operation was possible thanks to the active cooperation between the participating countries and Europol, which were involved in various components of investigative activities, including actions against high-risk criminal organizations and high-value targets, cyber-investigations, analysis of cryptocurrency transactions, frequent intelligence exchanges data using Europol's secure channels and dozens of operational meetings organized in different countries. During the investigation, Europol deployed experts in Iceland, Ireland and Australia. Due to the complexity of this data-driven investigation, a number of Europol teams with specialized technical skills, including those related to cybercrime, were involved in the process.
During the action, a Joint Operations Center was also established at the Europol headquarters, where representatives of OTF members and Europol officials provided support and facilitated the coordination of simultaneous operational activities that took place around the world," said Europol.
Due to recent law enforcement actions targeting platforms used by criminal networks, the landscape of encrypted communication has become increasingly fragmented. As a result of these operations, many once-popular encrypted services were shut down or disrupted, leading to a fragmentation of the market.
Criminals are now moving to a range of lesser-known or specially developed communication tools that offer varying levels of security and anonymity. In this way, they look for new technical solutions and use popular communication applications to diversify their methods. This strategy helps criminal actors avoid exposing their operations on a single platform, thereby reducing the risk of interception.
Because of this, the landscape of encrypted communications remains extremely dynamic and segmented, presenting ongoing challenges to law enforcement.
Legal access to data
Europol and its partners continue to prioritize the fight against encrypted communication technologies used by criminals, advocating for a balanced approach that respects privacy rights and meets legal standards.
Private companies that want to ensure that their services are used in accordance with the law also play an important role. They must ensure that their platforms do not become havens for criminals and should provide mechanisms for lawful access to data under judicial supervision and in full respect of fundamental rights.
Law enforcement agencies need access to communications between suspects in order to fight serious crimes. This can coexist with privacy protection, while cyber security and strong legal safeguards and oversight are guaranteed.
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