Security News > 2023 > February > Eurocops shut down Exclu encrypted messaging app, arrest dozens

An encrypted messaging service that has been on law enforcement's radar since a 2019 raid on an old NATO bunker has been shut down after a sweeping series of raids across Europe last week.

In a search of 79 properties in German, The Netherlands, Belgium and Poland last Friday, Authorities in those four countries arrested 48 people who were users, operators and administrators of the Exclu crypto communications service.

"The Exclu service has been dismantled," said the Dutch police and Public Prosecution Service.

German police said that their investigation into Exclu began in 2020 and had their origin in the seizure of an old NATO bunker dubbed "Cyberbunker" or CB3ROB, which had a reputation for hosting some of the less legitimate sites on the internet, including The Pirate Bay and the back end for Exclu.

The data retrieved from Exclu also allowed authorities to identify and trace the developers, administrators and owners of the service, many of whom were arrested in the raids.

Law enforcement agencies and lawmakers around the world have made end-to-end encryption services like Exclu a legislative bugbear, stoking fear that the only purpose of such software was to subvert the law, and that forcing a backdoor into such services was necessary.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/02/07/police_exclu_encrypted/