[1/5] EncroChat and Europol logos are seen in this illustration taken, June 27, 2023.
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationAMSTERDAM, June 27 (Reuters) - European policing agency Europol said on Tuesday that the takedown of Encrochat, an underground company that offered criminals supposedly secure encrypted communications, led to more than 6,500 arrests and 900 million euros ($980 million) in seized assets.
Police have analysed more than 115 million "criminal conversations", Europol said, helping prevent "violent attacks, attempted murders, corruption and large scale drugs transports."
Europol said the company had routed encrypted communications through servers in France.
"Eventually, it was possible to place a technical device to go beyond the encryption technique and obtain access to users’ correspondence," Europol said on Tuesday.
Persons:
Dado Ruvic, Europol, Encrochat, Toby Sterling, Christina Fincher
Organizations:
REUTERS, Police, British, German, Thomson
Locations:
AMSTERDAM, Europe, Lille, France