Police Hack Sky ECC, Smash Billion-Euro Drug Ring — SkimNews
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- French, Belgian, and Dutch police compromised the encryption of the Sky ECC app, gaining access to the communications of massive criminal organizations.
- The investigation uncovered billions of euros in laundered cryptocurrency and drug lords in Dubai using pseudonyms like 'Saddam Hussein', 'Putin', and 'Hitler'.
- The Sky ECC app, marketed to lawyers and journalists, was designed to strip phones of normal features and could be wiped remotely; a company employee offered a weak defence comparing it to a luxury hotel.
- The decrypted messages revealed plans for murders, sexual torture, and a Serbian 'pink house' containing meat grinders used to dispose of informants.
- The hack definitively proved that murder victim Houcine Hakkar was innocent, clearing his name for his family.
Why it matters: The operation demonstrates law enforcement's evolving capability to counter encrypted criminal networks, directly disrupting multi-billion euro trafficking and money laundering operations. It also forces a reckoning for tech companies like Sky Global, which profited by willfully ignoring the criminal use of its product.
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