Police infiltrate Ghost Encrypted Messaging app, dozens arrested

Australian police say they have managed to infiltrate Ghost, an encrypted global messaging app allegedly designed for criminals, leading to dozens of arrests.

Jay Je Yoon Jung, 32, the suspected app administrator, appeared in Sydney Magistrates’ Court on charges of supporting a criminal organisation and benefiting from crime. Jung pleaded not guilty or applied for bail and will remain in custody until his next hearing in November.

In recent days, Australian police have arrested 38 people in coordinated raids across four states. Law enforcement agencies in Canada, Sweden, Ireland and Italy have also made arrests in connection with the case, according to Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney.

“We allege that hundreds of criminals, including Italian organised crime, members of outlaw motorcycle gangs, Middle Eastern organised crime and Korean organised crime, used Ghost in Australia and overseas to import illegal drugs and order killings,” McCartney told a news conference.

Police believe the app, which Jung allegedly developed in 2017, was designed specifically for criminal use and allowed organised crime groups to communicate securely and anonymously.

Deputy Commissioner Kirsty Schofield said Australian police had monitored 125,000 messages and 120 video calls sent via Ghost since March, preventing 50 people from being killed, kidnapped or seriously injured.

Australia became part of a Europol-led global taskforce to dismantle Ghost in 2022. The app’s encryption and specialist features made it a tool of choice for criminals looking to avoid detection, but police were able to infiltrate the app with critical help from international partners.

Colonel Florian Manet, head of the technical department of the National Cyber ​​​​Command at the French Interior Ministry, said in a statement that his officers had been providing technical resources to the task force for several years. Those efforts were crucial to decrypting the app’s communications.

McCartney credited French authorities for helping Australian police gain access to Ghost. The French “gave us the ability” to decrypt Ghost’s communications, he said.

Australian police technicians further compromised the app by modifying software updates that were regularly sent by Jung, giving them access to content on devices in Australia. “We effectively infected devices, allowing us to access content on devices in Australia,” McCartney explained.

Jung, who lived with his parents in Sydney and had no previous criminal record, was arrested at his home on Tuesday. Police say he ran a reseller network distributing specialist Ghost-equipped mobile phones to criminals around the world. The modified smartphones were sold for A$2,350 ($1,590), which included a six-month subscription to the encrypted app and technical support.

The article uses information from the Associated Press