News Mania Desk/ Piyal Chatterjee / 18th September 2024
A 32-year-old man has been taken into custody by Australian authorities on suspicion of developing and running an encrypted messaging app that is used by global organized criminal groups to plan killings, traffic in drugs and weapons, and launder money.
On Wednesday, Jay Je Yoon Jung made an appearance in a Sydney court to face accusations pertaining to the establishment of the Ghost messaging platform, which the authorities claim was “designed exclusively for the criminal underworld.”
Supporting a criminal organization and profiting from illegal activity are two of the five counts against Jung.
In a statement, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said that Jung was selling customized smartphones for 2,350 Australian dollars ($1,600) each, which included tech assistance and a six-month network subscription.
Ghost was developed in 2017 and was utilized by “hundreds of criminals” in Australia, Italy, South Korea, and the Middle East, according to police.
38 people have reportedly been arrested in Australia in recent days, according to the AFP, while investigators have also conducted operations in Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and Canada almost simultaneously.Police in Australia have charged up to fifty persons who are said to have used Ghost. Operation Kraken, according to AFP Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney, has stopped the arrival of more than 200 kg of illegal substances, stopped 50 threats against individuals, and captured 25 unlawful firearms.
“Taking down dedicated encrypted communication devices takes significant skill,” McCartney said in a statement.
“But the holy grail is always penetrating criminal platforms to access evidence – and this is where the AFP is world leading.”
Three years ago, the FBI utilized an encrypted messaging software called ANOM as a trojan horse to apprehend 800 criminal individuals across 16 nations. This intrusion of the Ghost network occurred after that.
Qatar, Egypt, and the US, efforts to establish a Gaza truce are still at a standstill.
Ambulances raced through Beirut’s southern suburbs following Tuesday’s explosions, causing widespread fear. Witnesses claimed that they saw people with bloodied hands screaming in agony and motorcyclists racing to the emergency room at Mount Lebanon Hospital outside of Beirut.About forty injured persons were receiving treatment at the Nabatieh public hospital in the southern part of the nation, according to Hassan Wazni, the hospital’s director, who spoke with Reuters. The wounds included limb, eye, and face traumas.
