Joseph Cox

And it really positioned itself as sort of the Royals Royce of the encrypted phone industry. If you wanted a super secure device from a company that didn't care if you were a criminal, if anything, it likes the fact you're a criminal, you could turn to Anom.

That is basically what Anom was pitching itself as to its customers and even to its sellers. It was saying, your messages will be end-to-end encrypted. We can't see what's going on. We won't turn over data to law enforcement. Our servers are outside the reach of the Five Eyes. All of the normal sort of marketing and privacy benefits you would expect. Except, of course, that wasn't true.

That is basically what Anom was pitching itself as to its customers and even to its sellers. It was saying, your messages will be end-to-end encrypted. We can't see what's going on. We won't turn over data to law enforcement. Our servers are outside the reach of the Five Eyes. All of the normal sort of marketing and privacy benefits you would expect. Except, of course, that wasn't true.

Anom was doing something else in the background.

Anom was doing something else in the background.

So it's very, very interesting on a technical level. And what it is, is that Anom basically created a ghost contact that was added to every conversation. And it received a blind carbon copy, a BCC, of every message sent across the platforms. So when Criminal A was talking to Criminal B about a cocaine shipment, that was secretly being sent off to Anom, and the users were none the wiser.

So it's very, very interesting on a technical level. And what it is, is that Anom basically created a ghost contact that was added to every conversation. And it received a blind carbon copy, a BCC, of every message sent across the platforms. So when Criminal A was talking to Criminal B about a cocaine shipment, that was secretly being sent off to Anom, and the users were none the wiser.

It was like having a spy in everybody's pocket, in their back pocket, looking over their shoulder. They could just see into everything.

It was like having a spy in everybody's pocket, in their back pocket, looking over their shoulder. They could just see into everything.

Yes, it's almost end-to-end encrypted. There's another end in there.

Yes, it's almost end-to-end encrypted. There's another end in there.

So why not, Afgu's lawyer tells the authorities, would you want to use Anom in your investigations in exchange for, you know, leniency if Afgu ever faces charges, right? It became the ultimate bargaining chip, essentially.

So why not, Afgu's lawyer tells the authorities, would you want to use Anom in your investigations in exchange for, you know, leniency if Afgu ever faces charges, right? It became the ultimate bargaining chip, essentially.

Yeah, and this is very quickly done in the book. And that's not because I'm sort of glazing over it. It's because it just happened really, really quickly. And that's just a series of events that happened. Now, I don't know whether that was always the plan or something like that, or was it maybe always in the back of Afgu's mind? I don't know that. But very, very quickly...

Yeah, and this is very quickly done in the book. And that's not because I'm sort of glazing over it. It's because it just happened really, really quickly. And that's just a series of events that happened. Now, I don't know whether that was always the plan or something like that, or was it maybe always in the back of Afgu's mind? I don't know that. But very, very quickly...

Anom was put on the table to the FBI back in around 2018, I think is when these conversations were happening.

Anom was put on the table to the FBI back in around 2018, I think is when these conversations were happening.

Yes, and the Australian Federal Police, who for years, they've been really stymied by encrypted phones, like probably even more than the FBI. In Australia, these sorts of phones are incredibly common among organized crime groups. You know, you'll have the Italian Mafia over there in Australia, them using it. You'll also have the biker gangs like the Comicheros and the Hells Angels. They all use...

Yes, and the Australian Federal Police, who for years, they've been really stymied by encrypted phones, like probably even more than the FBI. In Australia, these sorts of phones are incredibly common among organized crime groups. You know, you'll have the Italian Mafia over there in Australia, them using it. You'll also have the biker gangs like the Comicheros and the Hells Angels. They all use...

these sorts of phones. And for years, if not more than a decade at this point, the AFP in particular has been running into these phones again and again and again. So the idea of a backdoor in an encrypted phone is incredibly attractive to them.