[LINK] itN: AN0M turns Queen's

[Roger Clarke]

[ There seems to be more than a small amount of disinformation
associated with this story.

[ It's *possibly* because of misunderstandings by reporters (although
that's a lot less likely with a specialist reporter like Juha).

[ I imagine the various LEAs involved have intentionally sown confusion,
in order to limit the intel provided to organised crime.

[ There's an app involved, but whether the app was kidnapped by LEAs is
less clear.  The fatal flaw in the security design may have instead been
the dependence on web-services that had fairly apparent vulnerabilities.


AFP and FBI sting used encrypted app to intercept crims' comms
Provided intelligence for three years.
Juha Saarinen
itNews
Jun 8 2021
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/afp-and-fbi-sting-used-encrypted-app-to-intercept-crims-comms-565626

...
The FBI gained access to the AN0M app in 2018, and started running it
clandestinely, installed on Google Android devices that criminals sold
to each other.

"The app AN0M was installed on mobile phones that were stripped of other
capability," AFP said.
...
With some 11,000 users worldwide, and 1650 people in Australia said to
have used the devices running An0m on them, criminals "handcuffed each
other".

The anom.io website has been seized by law enforcement

... AN0M ... used Google and Amazon Web Services features hosted in the
US that made it easy to track users.

"Stay away from AN0M if you value your privacy & safey [sic], they are
compromised, liars and your data is running via USA - passed onto law
enformcenet and other entities," the site warned.
...


-- 
Roger Clarke                            mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University