Europol has just dismantled the Matrix, a secret messaging system used by international criminal organizations. Its servers, some of which were located in France, were disabled.
It’s called The Matrix, like the name of the cinematographic saga and it is. MessagingMessaging Secret encryption used by traffickers medicinemedicine and arms internationally. The service has just been shut down by European authorities. The maneuver was carried out by Europol, which brought together French and Dutch investigators. Agents discovered the messaging almost “by chance.” In 2021, Peter RD Vries, a Dutch journalist investigating cases involving these smugglers, was shot dead in Amsterdam. It was the smartphone of his killer, arrested and convicted, that revealed the existence of the Matrix.
After analyzing this messaging and exploiting its decryption capabilities for three months, agents were able to monitor network activity. They intercepted more than 2.3 million messages written in 33 languages. All of them were involved in the organization of international drug trafficking, arms sales and money laundering.ArgentArgent. Thanks to this simple messaging client, investigators were able to monitor the exchanges of multiple criminals. This is all evidence that will inform ongoing investigations into these organizations.
A game of cat and mouse
At the end of this surveillance and decryption of messages, cyber sleuths decided to neutralize the central servers located in France and Germany. In other words, messaging has fallen through. Several suspects linked to Matrix have been arrested, particularly in France and Spain. Other leads led to Lithuania where searches were conducted.
The case is reminiscent of the takedown of other encrypted messaging systems used by criminals. This was the case with EncroChat, a highly secure telephone brand widely used by traffickers. Its competitor SkyECC, which it took over, experienced similar results, along with the fall of the major drug cartels. But this whole story, where encryption rhymes with crime, remains an eternal game of cat and mouse. In any case, since sponsors of criminal organizations take no risks, there’s a good chance they’re already exploiting something else…
