The FBI arrested the owner of Phantom Secure, a company that had customized BlackBerry and Android devices in international criminal organizations.
In accordance with Motherboard, the FBI, together with the Canadian and Australian police authorities, were watching Phantom Secure for the sale of phonemes to drug cartels and other criminal organizations.
The FBI reports that Phantom Secure and Chief Executive Officer Vincent Ramos were well aware that their devices were being used in violent crimes.
These phones had cameras, microphones, and other standard connectivity features turned off while using a Pretty Good Privacy version to send messages.
The FBI also says the company has allowed its customers to erase their device data remotely.
Canadian police also said that when Vincent Ramos was asked by an undercover agent if the phones were good for "sending MDMA to Montreal", he replied that it would be "perfect".
“We did it – we created them specifically for this [the smuggling drugs],” said Vincent Ramos.
The FBI (and other law enforcement agencies of USA, such as the Department of Justice) has waged a war on all encryption technology, arguing that criminals are being armed with "undetectable" mobile devices that prevent them from conducting their investigations.
A long time ago the FBI even tried to force it Companies όπως η Apple να προσθέσουν backdoors που θα τους βοηθούσαν στην παρακολούθηση του κοινού στις συσκευές τους, κάτι που θα μπορούσε ενδεχομένως να αποδυναμώσει τα characteristics security measures available to normal users who have no intention of breaking the law.
