ANOM: A global covert investigation conducted through an encrypted app trap yields 800 arrests

On June 8, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Australia’s Federal Police (AFP) publicly announced the arrests of more than 800 individuals utilizing an FBI-controlled encrypted platform to facilitate their criminal activities.[1]  ANOM, a highly popular encryption platform amongst criminals worldwide, was secretly used as a surveillance tool in an investigation known as “Operation Trojan Shield” in order to discreetly observe and curtail criminal activities in Australia and beyond.[2]

Operation Trojan Shield proved itself to be an enormously successful example  of how law enforcement can utilize new technologies to discreetly entrap criminals and expose their illicit activities. Several arrests related to ANOM are allegedly linked to Australian-based Italian mafia, outlaw motorcycle gangs, Asian crime syndicates and Albanian organized crime.[3]  More than 3.7 metric tons of drugs and nearly $35 million in cash were seized over the three-year duration of the covert investigation.[4]  In order to appreciate the magnitude of Operation Trojan Shield’s success, it is vital to understand the background of hardened encrypted devices and how they have been used to facilitate criminal activity.