Sky Global apparently shuts down following police arrests
Another encrypted phone service for criminals has been shuddered
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The encrypted phone service Sky Global has shut down its operations afterBlackBerrycut off the firm’s access to its United Endpoint Manager services.
The shut down comes after Sky Global’s CEO Jean-Francois EAP was recently indicted by theDepartment of Justicealongside a former distributor of encrypted smartphones for selling devices to international drug traffickers to help them avoid being detected by law enforcement.
In astatementannouncing the indictment, Assistant US Attorneys Meghan E. Heesch and Joshua C. Mellor provided further insight on Sky Global’s business model, saying:
“Sky Global’s devices are specifically designed to prevent law enforcement from actively monitoring the communications between members of transnational criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking and money laundering. As part of its services, Sky Global guarantees that messages stored on its devices can and will be remotely deleted by the company if the device is seized by law enforcement or otherwise compromised.”
Sky Global investigation
Just like with the subscription-based phone systemEncroChatthat was shut down last year, Sky Global provided criminals with modified Nokia,Google,Appleand BlackBerry smartphones that had their cameras, microphones and GPS capabilities removed to make them harder to track.
Once a criminal purchased one of the company’s modified devices, they would then sign up for its end-to-end encrypted messaging softwareSky ECCthat came preinstalled on its smartphones.
As first reported byMotherBoard, Sky Global’s website has been seized by US and Canadian authorities and it now displays an official government banner complete with the logos of the FBI, DEA, US Marshals Service and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
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However, before Sky Global’s operations and site were shut down, a final message went out to the company’s customers warning them that their communications could soon be intercepted by law enforcement.
While Sky Global is no more, another encrypted phone service will likely rise up in its place due to how profitable supplying criminals with untraceable phones can be.
ViaThe Register
After working with the TechRadar Pro team for the last several years, Anthony is now the security and networking editor at Tom’s Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and ransomware gangs to the best way to cover your whole home or business with Wi-Fi. When not writing, you can find him tinkering with PCs and game consoles, managing cables and upgrading his smart home.
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