Security News > 2023 > June > Cops' total pwnage of 'secure' EncroChat nets 6,500+ arrests, €740m in funds – so far

Police breaking into and snooping on the EncroChat encrypted messaging network has led to 6,558 arrests worldwide and nearly €740 million seized in criminal funds, according to cops in France and the Netherlands.

In 2020, the two countries led the effort to bust open the communications service, compromising the network's servers and using that access to collect data from EncroChat handsets.

Getting full access to the network's infrastructure allowed the police to receive clear-text copies of users' messages in real time, resulting in thousands of arrests as well as the seizure of hundreds of tons of drugs, and nearly a thousand guns and vehicles apiece, the team reported on Tuesday.

To date criminals convicted because of their EncroChat messages will spend a collective 7,134 years behind bars.

Since the EncroChat bust, European cops have put several other encrypted messaging apps in their crosshairs.

Just last month, European police arrested three people in Belgrade described as "The biggest" drug lords in the Balkans in what cops chalked up to another win in dismantling Sky ECC. Two other encrypted messaging services, EncroChat and ANOM, have also been infiltrated and shut down by police over the past few years.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/06/27/encrochat_eu_arrests/