Messages were routed to an FBI-owned server and decrypted with master key. //

The Federal Bureau of Investigation created a company that sold encrypted devices to hundreds of organized crime syndicates, resulting in 800 arrests in 16 countries, law-enforcement authorities announced today. The FBI and agencies in other countries intercepted 27 million messages over 18 months before making the arrests in recent days, and more arrests are planned.

The FBI teamed up with Australian Federal Police to target drug trafficking and money laundering. They "strategically developed and covertly operated an encrypted device company, called ANOM, which grew to service more than 12,000 encrypted devices to over 300 criminal syndicates operating in more than 100 countries, including Italian organized crime, outlaw motorcycle gangs, and international drug trafficking organizations," Europol said today. //

"For years, organized crime figures around the globe relied on the devices to orchestrate international drug shipments, coordinate the trafficking of arms and explosives, and discuss contract killings, law enforcement officials said," the Times wrote. "Users trusted the devices' security so much that they often laid out their plans not in code, but in plain language."

Unbeknownst to users, messages were routed to an FBI-owned server and decrypted with a master key controlled by the FBI. //

The operation was given the names "Trojan Shield" and "Greenlight." Europol called it "one of the largest and most sophisticated law enforcement operations to date in the fight against encrypted criminal activities." //

The FBI has complained about encryption in consumer products for years, with one FBI official in 2018 reportedly calling Apple "jerks." Today's announcement demonstrates again that law enforcement has the ability to target criminals' use of encrypted communications without making mass-market devices less secure.