Security News > 2021 > March > CEO of Encrypted Chat Platform Indicted for Aiding Organised Criminals
The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday announced an indictment against Jean-Francois Eap, the CEO of encrypted messaging company Sky Global, and an associate for wilfully participating in a criminal enterprise to help international drug traffickers avoid law enforcement.
Sky ECC is said to have surged in popularity following a similar takedown of Encrochat last July by French and Dutch investigators, with many criminal gangs shifting to the service to carry out criminal acts.
Sky, like Encrochat's EncroPhone, is part of the encrypted phone industry, in which iPhone, Google Pixel, and Blackberry handsets are altered by incorporating tamper-resistant hardware and OS-level protections capable of resisting attempts to gain access to their contents.
"SKY ECC authorized distributors in Belgium and the Netherlands brought to our attention that a fake phishing application falsely branded as SKY ECC was illegally created, modified and side-loaded onto unsecure devices, and security features of authorized SKY ECC phones were eliminated in these bogus devices which were then sold through unauthorized channels," the company said.
News of Sky ECC's dismantlement also follows an identical crackdown on providers of encrypted communications, including Ennetcom and Phantom Secure, over the past five years.
Days after the U.S. government indicted Sky ECC CEO Jean-Francois Eap and an associate for allegedly selling their services to help international drug traffickers evade law enforcement, the company has allegedly shut down its communications platform.