Police crack new messaging service: Matrix
In an international collaboration, the police in several countries have cracked the messaging service Matrix. Matrix was a service with only a few users. According to the police, Matrix was used in the murder of crime journalist Peter R. de Vries, among other things. Crimesite previously wrote that in an investigation into a Camorra clan in Italy, it appeared that suspects communicated with a Matrix protocol .
2.3 million messages
As a result of the operation, the police read some 2.3 million messages and several thousand users.
In the car in which the shooter in the murder of De Vries was arrested was a Google Pixel phone with a Matrix app, which was used to contact the man who directed the liquidation. In communications that Ridouan Taghi exchanged with his cousin (lawyer Youssef Taghi) in the Extra Secure Institution (EBI) in Vught, there was also talk of 'telies' with Matrix.
Two arrests
During the international operation, supported by Eurojust and Europol, the crypto communications service was taken down today by Dutch and French authorities and two arrests were made.
According to the police, Matrix was more complex in terms of infrastructure and technology than its predecessors Sky ECC and EncroChat.
A spokesperson: 'We saw 33 different languages ??passing by. The infrastructure consisted of more than 40 servers spread across several countries, with the most important servers in France and Germany. The service was controlled from Spain by the main suspect with a Lithuanian nationality. The users were mainly located in Southern Europe.'
15 million home
In Marbella, Spain, two people have been arrested at the request of the Dutch authorities: the suspected owner and manager of the service, a 52-year-old man of Lithuanian nationality and a 30-year-old Dutch suspect.
This Dutch suspect is also suspected of international cocaine trafficking in 2020, based on messages from the crypto communications service Sky ECC. There have been six house searches in southern Spain and one of the homes has been seized, with an estimated value of more than 15 million euros.
Servers
The main servers in France and Germany have been taken down. During the operations, 145,000 euros in cash and half a million euros in cryptocurrencies have been seized. In addition, four vehicles have been seized and more than 970 phones have been seized.
There were also six searches in Lithuania today. The investigation is ongoing and there are other suspects in the picture.
On a special website, the police warn criminals who use these types of encryption services.
The Vries
Police tracked down Matrix after finding a telephone with this service in the shooter's getaway car immediately after the attack on crime journalist Peter R. de Vries in July 2021.
During the investigation into Matrix, it emerged that a significant portion of the service's infrastructure was located in France. Eventually, a collaboration between Dutch and French authorities was initiated by the creation of a Joint Investigation Team.
The police say they have been monitoring Matrix's messaging for several months.
Google Pixel
Matrix offered a whole ecosystem of applications, including the ability to make (video) calls, track transactions and surf the internet anonymously. The service was offered under various names, besides Matrix. It was offered in the form of an app that was installed mainly on Google Pixel phones.
A device with a six-month subscription cost between 1,300 and 1,600 euros.
New users could only get a device if they were invited.
Matrix is ??also the name of a company and communication protocol of the same name, which has nothing to do with the crypto communication service Matrix. The Camorra suspects that Crimesite previously wrote about may not have used phones from the company Matrix that has now been dismantled, but the Matrix protocol in apps such as Signal and WhatsApp.
https://www.crimesite.nl/politie-kraakt-nieuwe-berichtendienst-matrix/
