View source for Shutdown of Sky Global

{{Short description|Encrypted mobile communications network}}
{{Redirects here|Sky Global|the British satellite communications operator|Sky and Space Global}}
'''Sky Global''' was a [[communications network]] and [[service provider]] founded in 2008 in [[Vancouver]], Canada. It developed the world's largest [[encrypted messaging]] network called Sky ECC,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252497565/Police-crack-worlds-largest-cryptophone-network-as-criminals-swap-EncroChat-for-Sky-NCC |first=Bill |last=Goodwin |title=Police Crack World's Largest Cryptophone Network as Criminals Swap EncroChat for Sky ECC |publisher=Computer Weekly |date=10 March 2021}}</ref> operating through three servers of the [[OVHcloud]] company in [[Roubaix]], France.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.crimesite.nl/nederlandse-politie-nam-vanuit-frankrijk-sky-ecc-servers-mee-naar-driebergen/ |title=Nederlandse politie nam vanuit Frankrijk Sky ECC-servers mee naar Driebergen |language=nl |trans-title=Dutch police took Sky ECC servers from France to Driebergen |date=7 August 2022 |publisher=Crimesite}}</ref> A significant share of the system's users were [[Transnational organized crime|international crime]] organizations involved in [[drug trafficking]], and the company management was suspected of collusion.
In a series of [[Police raid|police raids]] against criminal organizations in several countries in early 2021, a part of Sky's infrastructure in Western Europe was dismantled, and [[US Department of Justice]] issued an arrest warrant against the company's CEO Jean-François Eap.<ref name="bt-cracking">{{Cite news|title=When Sky ECC fell, so too did Belgian crime lords|url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/159176/cracking-of-sky-ecc-encrypted-messaging-service-brings-down-organised-crime-lords/|last=Lyons|first=Helen|date=10 March 2021|access-date=10 March 2021|work=[[The Brussels Times]]}}</ref><ref name="bt-antwerp">{{Cite news|title=Lawyers among those arrested in crackdown organised crime|url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/belgium-all-news/159284/antwerp-lawyers-among-those-arrested-in-crackdown-organised-crime/|last=Lyons|first=Helen|date=10 March 2021|access-date=11 March 2021|work=The Brussels Times}}</ref><ref name="lm-en-belgique">{{Cite news|title=En Belgique, le réseau de communication Sky ECC infiltré par la police|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2021/03/10/en-belgique-le-reseau-de-communication-sky-ecc-infiltre-par-la-police_6072567_4408996.html|last=Stroobants|first=Jean-Pierre|access-date=11 March 2021|work=[[Le Monde]]|language=fr}}</ref><ref name="toronto-star">{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/03/14/arrest-warrant-issued-for-canadian-ceo-after-authorities-allege-companys-messaging-app-is-used-by-international-crime-groups.html |title=Arrest warrant issued for Canadian CEO after authorities allege company's messaging app used by international crime groups |date= March 15, 2021 |last=Quan |first=Douglas |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]]}}</ref> On March 19, 2021, the company apparently shut down the operations after [[BlackBerry]] cut it off from its services. Its website has been seized by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]].<ref name="techradar">{{Cite news|url=https://www.techradar.com/news/sky-global-apparently-shuts-down-following-police-arrests |title=Sky Global apparently shuts down following police arrests |last=Spadafora |first=Anthony |date=19 March 2021|access-date=22 March 2021|work=[[TechRadar]]}}</ref>
==Background==
[[File:Sky Global logo.svg|thumb|Logo of Sky Global, which was active between 2008 and 2021]]
Sky Global was founded in 2008 by Jean-François Eap, in [[Vancouver]], Canada.
The company provided '''Sky ECC''', a subscription-based [[end-to-end encryption|end-to-end encrypted]] messaging application.<ref name="zdnet">{{cite news| url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/sky-global-ceo-indicted-over-encrypted-chat-drug-trafficking-claims-erosion-of-right-to-privacy/ |title=Sky Global CEO indicted over encrypted chat drug trafficking, calls allegations an 'outrage' |last=Osborne |first=Charlie |publisher=[[ZDNet]] |date=March 15, 2021}}</ref> Originally developed for the BlackBerry platform, it uses [[elliptic-curve cryptography]] (ECC) for encryption. One of its features was "self-destruction" of messages after a user-defined expiration period.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://socialnewsdaily.com/61500/is-snapchat-actually-safer-than-skyecc-and-why/ |title=Is SnapChat Actually Safer than SkyECC (And Why)? |date=March 18, 2016 |website=Social News Daily}}</ref> The company modified [[Nokia phone|Nokia]], [[Google Pixel|Google]], [[iPhone|Apple]] and [[BlackBerry]] phones.<ref name=techradar/> Phones supplied by the company had [[Phone camera|cameras]], [[Microphone|microphones]] and [[Global Positioning System|GPS]] disabled.<ref name=bt-cracking/><ref name=bt-antwerp/> If a phone was not contactable by the network, the message would be retained for up to 48 hours, then deleted.<ref name=cw-police>{{Cite news|title=Police crack world's largest cryptophone network as criminals swap EncroChat for Sky ECC|url=https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252497565/Police-crack-worlds-largest-cryptophone-network-as-criminals-swap-EncroChat-for-Sky-NCC|last=Goodwin|first=Bill|date=10 March 2021|access-date=11 March 2021|work=[[Computer Weekly]]|translator-last=Killian|translator-first=Edda}}</ref> The phones had a [[Smartphone kill switch|kill switch]]: if a user entered a "panic" password, the device would delete its contents.<ref name="bt-cracking" /> The company website offered a US$4 million (€3.2 million) prize to anyone who could break the encryption within 90 days.<ref name="bt-cracking" /><ref name="bt-antwerp" /><ref name="cw-police" /> They support [[Android (operating system)|Android]], [[BlackBerry]] and [[iPhone]] apps.<ref name="cw-police" />
Messages were stored using 512-bit elliptic-curve [[cryptography]] and network connections are protected by 2048 bit [[Transport Layer Security|SSL]].<ref name=cw-police/>
171,000 SKY ECC devices were registered, mainly in Europe, North America, several central and South American countries – mainly Colombia – and the Middle East. A quarter of active users were in Belgium (6,000) and the Netherlands (12,000), and half of those were said to be in use around the [[port of Antwerp]].<ref name=boffey/>
==Raids==
On 9 March 2021 around 16:00 [[Belgian Police|Belgian police]] carried out about 200 raids, arrested 48 people and seized €1.2 million in cash along with 17 tonnes of [[cocaine]].<ref name=bt-17-tonnes>{{Cite news|title=17 tonnes of cocaine and €1.2 million seized in major police operation in Belgium|url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/belgium-all-news/159092/17-tonnes-of-cocaine-and-e1-2-million-seized-in-major-drug-bust-in-belgium-sky-ecc-encrypted-software-organised-crime-the-netherlands/|last=Chini|first=Maïthé|date=9 March 2021|access-date=10 March 2021|work=The Brussels Times}}</ref> Those arrested included lawyers and members of the [[Hells Angels]],<ref name=bt-cracking/> serving police officers, an employee of the public prosecutor's office, civil servants, tax officials and hospital administrators suspected of providing information to the gangs, as well as people suspected of gang-related violence.<ref name=boffey>{{Cite news |title=Colombia's cartels target Europe with cocaine, corruption and torture |last=Boffey |first=Daniel |newspaper=The Observer |date=11 April 2021 |access-date=11 April 2021 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/11/colombias-cartels-target-europe-with-cocaine-corruption-and-torture}}</ref>
Belgian [[Federal prosecutor's office (Belgium)|federal prosecutor]] {{Ill|Frédéric Van Leeuw|nl}} said that "The operation was concentrated on taking down the Sky ECC infrastructure, dismantling the distribution network and seizing the criminal assets of the distributors" and "as many Sky ECC devices as possible" were seized from identified users.<ref name=bt-17-tonnes/> The federal prosecutor said about the encryption that "We succeeded. We will send Sky ECC the account number of the federal police".<ref name=bt-cracking/>
Belgian and Dutch authorities were alleged to have been able to access the network from 15 February 2021 up to shortly before the raids.<ref name=bt-cracking/><ref name=nlt-dutch/> About a billion messages were intercepted, about half of which had been decrypted by April 2021—further avenues of inquiry were expected to open as decryption progressed. The Belgian police said the network they had broken into was so trusted by its criminal users that images of torture, execution orders, insider financial and operational information were freely sent.<ref name=boffey/>
Raids in the Netherlands were part of Operation Argus, the follow-up to the Lermont operation used to take down [[EncroChat]].<ref name=nlt-dutch>{{Cite news|title=Dutch cops take out encrypted chat service SkyECC; Thirty arrests|url=https://nltimes.nl/2021/03/09/dutch-cops-take-encrypted-chat-service-skyecc-thirty-arrests|date=9 March 2021|access-date=10 March 2021|work=NL Times}}</ref>
Sky Global disputed claims that their servers and app had been compromised, claiming that they were aware of a fake "Sky ECC" app being available on unsecure phones.<ref name=nlt-encrypted>{{Cite news|title=Encrypted chat service Sky ECC denies being hacked by Dutch cops|url=https://nltimes.nl/2021/03/10/encrypted-chat-service-sky-ecc-denies-hacked-dutch-cops|date=10 March 2021|access-date=10 March 2021|work=NL Times}}</ref><ref name=cw-police/>
Sky Global said they were "actively investigating and pursuing legal action against the offending individuals for [[impersonation]], false lights, [[trademark infringement]], [[injurious falsehood]], [[defamation]] and [[fraud]]".<ref name=cw-police/>
Joris van der Aa, a crime reporter for ''[[Gazet van Antwerpen]]'', noted the importance of Operation Sky, saying, "It is a big blow because, in Belgium and a great part of the criminal underworld in the Netherlands, they really trusted Sky as a system. They were so full of confidence, and the police now have so much information on how the underworld was structured, bank accounts, all the corrupt contacts are being arrested. It takes years to build these networks ... In South America they will be thinking, 'Let's not do business with these Dutch and Belgian guys any more'... Everyone is waiting for the storm and asking themselves what the police know."<ref name=boffey/>
===Indictment and shutdown===
On March 12, 2021, the US Department of Justice in San Diego, California, issued an indictment against Sky Global's CEO, Jean-François Eap, and a former distributor, Thomas Herdman.<ref name=toronto-star/><ref name=zdnet/> They were charged with a "conspiracy to violate the federal [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act]] (RICO)", and arrest warrants were issued. The indictment states that the 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."<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/sky-global-executive-and-associate-indicted-providing-encrypted-communication-devices |title=Sky Global Executive and Associate Indicted for Providing Encrypted Communication Devices to Help International Drug Traffickers Avoid Law Enforcement  |date=March 12, 2021 |publisher=Department of Justice, US Attorney's Office, [[Southern District of California]]}}</ref>
In response, Eap has published a statement branding the allegations as false, saying that he and his company are being "targeted" because they "build tools to protect the fundamental right to privacy."  "Sky Global's technology works for the good of all. It was not created to prevent the police from monitoring criminal organizations; it exists to prevent anyone from monitoring and spying on the global community. The indictment against me personally in the US is an example of the police and the government trying to vilify anyone who takes a stance against unwarranted surveillance."<ref name=zdnet/>
On March 19, 2021, the company apparently shut down the operations after BlackBerry cut it off from its Unified Endpoint Manager services. Its website has been seized by the FBI.<ref name=techradar/>
== Aftermath ==
* On June 19, 2024, seven men were prosecuted in Finnish district court for drug and gun charges for crimes committed during 2020-2021, two lead suspects were convicted 13 years prison sentence for acquiring cocaine, amphetamine and ecstasy as well firearm felony. Five were convicted 3-4 year sentences for the same crimes and laundring money, two charges were dropped. Prosecution was based on messages exchanged in SkyECC application received from foreign police agencies.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://yle.fi/a/74-20095152 |title=Ukrainassa taistellut ja haavoittunut suomalaismies sai 13 vuotta vankeutta törkeistä huumerikoksista |date=June 19, 2024|publisher=Finnish public broadcasting company, [[Yle News]]}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[ANOM]] – a network infiltrated by law enforcement agencies from several countries
* [[EncroChat]] – a network infiltrated by law enforcement to investigate organized crime in Europe
* [[Ennetcom]] – a network seized by Dutch authorities, who used it to make arrests
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Anonymity networks]]
[[Category:Cyberspace]]
[[Category:Dark web]]
[[Category:End-to-end encryption]]
[[Category:Law enforcement operations]]
[[Category:2008 establishments in British Columbia]]
[[Category:2021 disestablishments in British Columbia]]