Comanchero bikie gang’s favourite encrypted messaging app shuts down
Cops have turned up the heat on bikies as a secret communication system used by Australia’s most powerful gang is to be shut down.
National
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The Comanchero bikie gang’s secret messaging app of choice is being shut down in another blow to the bikie gang.
Ciphr, an encrypted messaging service that was used to co-ordinate the movement of mountains of illegal drugs, has told users it will stop operating.
The company has been linked to global organised crime, including Australia’s most powerful bikie gang, because of its hi-tech privacy functions.
But it began losing profits when it wanted those who sold the app to take responsibility for how it was used.
Former senior Sydney Comanchero Marco Coffen bought the Australian distribution rights to Ciphr.
Now based in Dubai, Coffen was charging users up to $2500 for the technology that was added to Blackberrys or Samsung phones.
There were up to 10,000 in circulation at its peak in Australia last year, with the app also claiming that it had a feature that could wipe messages remotely if someone was caught by police, before it started to drop in popularity.
The shutting down of Ciphr will force criminals to find a new app to hide their messages.
It comes after the An0m app, another encrypted app, was revealed as a Trojan horse, with police listening in to 28 million messages.
That sting led to hundreds of arrests, but some criminals escaped the law because they were using Ciphr.
The Australian Federal Police said Ciphr was a key tool for organised crime.
“Ciphr has been identified by the AFP as being used by criminal syndicates over a number of years and Ciphr devices have been located during the execution of search warrants and other disruption activity undertaken by the AFP in relation to transnational serious and organised crime operations,” a statement said.
The AFP said the An0m app bust unmasked just who was using the encrypted apps, which put pressure on Ciphr’s management.
“Ciphr’s withdrawal from Australia started with the successful law enforcement resolution of AN0M [Operation IRONSIDE], reinforcing Ciphr’s awareness of who their primary customers were.”
There are other apps on the market, including Diamond Secure, but other police forces have also been infiltrating supposedly encrypted communications.
“We are vigilant in relation to encryption and other technologies being used in relation to a range of criminal communications including the importation and supply of illicit drugs, child exploitation, terrorism and money laundering,” an AFP statement said.
“The AFP acknowledges the continued use of encryption and other technologies to facilitate communications about serious criminality. Despite this, the AFP remains highly adaptive and relentless in maximising our impact on the criminal environment.”
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French, Dutch and British police cracked EncroChat, and its popular replacement Sky ECC, has also been hacked by authorities.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission said it “does not support the use of dedicated encrypted communications platforms.”
The shutdown of Ciphr was first reported by Vice, who obtained a message from Ciphr to customers.
“Effective August 25th, 2022, our software will no longer be supported using our MDM solution,” the Ciphr message said.
Originally published as Comanchero bikie gang’s favourite encrypted messaging app shuts down
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