December 4, 2024 at 03:40AM
French and Dutch police dismantled the Matrix chat app, designed for secure criminal communication, following its discovery during a murder investigation. A joint task force compromised the app, accessing 2.3 million messages across 40 servers, revealing discussions on illicit activities. Investigations continue with multiple arrests anticipated.
**Meeting Notes Takeaways:**
1. **Matrix Chat App Takedown**:
– A collaborative effort by French and Dutch police has led to the takedown of the Matrix chat app, which was designed for secure encrypted messaging among criminals.
2. **Discovery and Investigation**:
– Matrix was discovered during the investigation of the murder of crime reporter Peter de Vries in 2021, who was investigating the Moroccan mafia.
– Dutch authorities formed a joint task force with French police to compromise the app’s central servers located in France.
3. **Technical Advancements**:
– Europol reports that Matrix was more advanced than previous criminal messaging systems like Sky ECC and EncroChat, featuring:
– Invitation-only access
– Strong end-to-end encryption
– Subscription fees ranging from €1,300 to €1,600 (approximately $1,400 to $1,700) for a six-month period.
4. **Operational Findings**:
– Around 40 servers were found to be operating in Europe, with approximately 8,000 users.
– In a three-month operation, police harvested 2.3 million messages in 33 languages, primarily discussing illegal activities such as money laundering and drug trafficking.
5. **Ongoing Investigations**:
– The collected data is currently under scrutiny, with further investigations anticipated.
6. **Comparison to Previous Operations**:
– The takedown of Matrix follows similar successful operations against other secure messaging systems, resulting in significant criminal arrests and data seizures:
– EncroChat (2020) led to over 6,500 arrests and €740 million in seized assets.
– Sky ECC (2021) and Ghost messaging system (2023) also faced police infiltration.
7. **User Notification**:
– Users were only made aware of the police action through a splash screen within the app, which announced the shutdown and asserted that real-time message access had been obtained.
8. **International Police Actions**:
– In addition to taking down the servers, police in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Spain executed raids resulting in three arrests.
9. **Future Projections**:
– The investigation is ongoing, and further developments and arrests are expected as more information is analyzed.