How a Secretive Phone Company Helped the Crime World Go Dark (vice.com) 18
Reader jkoebler writes: This is an in-depth, narrative investigation into Phantom Secure, a privacy-focused phone company that started selling locally to models and other VIPs, before eventually becoming a preferred network for serious, organized crime. One of Phantom's clients was the Sinaloa Cartel, according to a text message Phantom's owner Vincent Ramos sent to an associate included in court records.
The story follows how Phantom got set up, how it took over the world, and eventually how it got taken down by the FBI. It is the result of more than two years of reporting involving sources from the law enforcement, organized crime, and cybersecurity worlds. It features daring escapes from Las Vegas hotels, undercover agents, and a silver-plated AK-47 emblazoned with the Louis Vuitton logo.
The story follows how Phantom got set up, how it took over the world, and eventually how it got taken down by the FBI. It is the result of more than two years of reporting involving sources from the law enforcement, organized crime, and cybersecurity worlds. It features daring escapes from Las Vegas hotels, undercover agents, and a silver-plated AK-47 emblazoned with the Louis Vuitton logo.
So... (Score:2)
The story follows how Phantom got set up, how it took over the world, and eventually how it got taken down by the FBI.
So you're saying there's a market opportunity here. To sell privacy-focused phone services to models and other VIPs, of course.
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I hate to say this... (Score:3)
[...] a silver-plated AK-47 emblazoned with the Louis Vuitton logo.
I totally want one of these. And I'm not even a gun nut.
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You could auction off the privilege to pull the trigger around here and make enough to buy a gold-plated one.
Fucking spamming cunts!
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Naming is everything (Score:4, Insightful)
Phantom Secure
If you think about how adjectives, nouns and noun adjuncts work and their intended client base, I would have gone with "Secure Phantom".
Interesting read... (Score:4, Insightful)
for what I read... after several paragraphs my slow a$$ finally figured out I was reading a hit piece against encryption.
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I suspected that from the title (it uses the words "go dark").
Thanks for helping me not waste my time.
Re:Interesting read... (Score:4, Informative)
It's a good read, actually.
It's in the end fairly neutral on encryption. It's more about how Phantom Secure started as a simple tool for executives and stuff to keep their messages private, but which evolved into a tool sold primarily to criminals.
And when that happened, they went from a legitimate business to one that was now illegal. Sell encrypted phones to the public - OK, everyone is doing it. Intentionally start selling phones to criminals, not so good.
It's a fascinating read, including a story on one of his distributors who wanted to keep it all legit but failed in the end because the owner needed to maintain his high end lifestyle and got greedy (especially when selling Blackberries in aa iPhone and Android era).
But hey, if you don't want to read it and believe it to be a government piece about encryption being bad, that's your option. And yes, in the early years, it was legit. Only in the later years when they couldn't sell blackberries to anyone but criminals because everyone else was using encrypted iPhones and Androids that the FBI was fighting to decrypt did they pretty much only specialize in selling to criminals.
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"Sell encrypted phones to the public - OK, everyone is doing it."
Nobody is doing it.
"Intentionally start selling phones to criminals, not so good."
There is no difference between selling phones which best suit criminals and phones which best empower citizens to maintain privacy and the ability to bypass government control (aka have freedom and democracy).
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You need to work on your Spidey senses. Didn't make it through the summary before I realized this was nothing but yet another attack that uses 'bad actors' as an excuse to try to kill privacy. The ability to thwart the will of government as a matter of individual discretion is called freedom. Enabling the government to decide when you get freedom and when you don't denies your ability to thwart the will of government which means you don't actually have freedom.
The government and those with power want the po
Interesting read, but ... (Score:3)
TFA was an interesting read, but left me wondering what happened to *this* guy ...
Law enforcement officers went through his phone. Worryingly for the RCMP agents, someone had sent Ramos a message earlier.
"You don't know me. I have information that I am confident you will find very valuable," one email to Ramos allegedly read. The alleged source, investigators would later find out, was Cameron Ortis, a director-general with the RCMP's intelligence unit, who was suspected of selling sensitive law enforcement information to criminals.
A quick Google search [google.com] turned up a few things, like New charges claim RCMP official 'intentionally' shared operational information back in 2015 [www.cbc.ca]. Looks like he's going to jail -- for a variety of things...
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Shows again that some elements in law enforcement are criminals themselves. I wonder why that happens time and again and they never manage to identify these people before giving them power over citizens...
Nice story (Score:3)
I also like:
Post office allows criminals to send anonymous blackmail letters.
Telephone company allows anonymous ransom calls in kidnapping cases. ...
Nobody wend dark here (Score:2)
This continued misinformation campaign by the "good" guys is really quite repulsive. Shows were the really dangerous criminally minded people can be found.
Any competent criminal was not using open non-anonymous communication media before that. And any really competent ones did not use this system here either, far too insecure.