Phantom Secure

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Phantom Secure was a Canadian company that provided modified secure mobile phones, which were equipped with a remotely operated kill switch.[1] After its shutdown, criminal users fled to alternatives including ANOM, which turned out to be a honeypot run by the FBI.

Arrest of Vincent Ramos[]

CEO Vincent Ramos was arrested at an Over Easy restaurant in Bellingham, Washington on 7 March 2018. At the time he lived in Richmond, British Columbia. Ramos had turned state's witness by June. He handed over all login details to his systems, giving authorities access to his whole operation. Ramos did not know the real identities of many clients and police worked to uncover them.[1]

Convictions[]

It was said to have provided "secure communications to high-level drug traffickers and other criminal organization leaders" according to a 2018 FBI takedown announcement.[2] Its CEO, Vincent Ramos, was sentenced in 2019 to a nine-year prison sentence after telling undercover agents that he created the device to help drug traffickers. Customers included members of the Sinaloa Cartel,[3] and the FBI reportedly asked Ramos to plant a backdoor in Phantom Secure's encrypted network, which he refused to do.[4]

Cameron Ortis[]

In September 2019 the RCMP arrested Cameron Ortis, who was director general of the National Intelligence Coordination Centre, a branch of the RCMP that specialised in analytics. He had been running the NICC since 2016. He had joined the RCMP in 2007 from an academic background in technology and crime. He had just completed a PhD at the University of British Columbia before he joined. He was hired as a strategic analyst, a position described as a "jack of all trades".[1]

He faces five charges under the Security of Information Act and the Criminal Code.[1][5]

In 2018 a joint operation between the RCMP and FBI indicated that there might be a mole, the investigation led to the arrest of Ortis. Media reports have linked his arrest to Phantom Secure.[5]

Charges against him include that in 2015 he supplied "special operational information" to "V.R", believed to be Vincent Ramos.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e Ling, Justin (20 April 2021). "The Rise and Fall of a Double Agent". The Walrus. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  2. ^ Staff (16 March 2018). "International Criminal Communication Service Dismantled: Phantom Secure Helped Drug Traffickers, Organized Crime Worldwide". Federal Bureau of Investigation.
  3. ^ Lamoureux, Mack; Cox, Joseph (29 May 2019). "CEO Who Sold Encrypted Phones to the Sinaloa Cartel Sentenced to Nine Years". Vice Motherboard.
  4. ^ Cox, Joseph (18 September 2019). "The FBI Tried to Plant a Backdoor in an Encrypted Phone Network". Vice Motherboard. A third source told Motherboard "He never gave law enforcement a backdoor into Phantom Secure. He did not do that." When pressed on whether the FBI still asked for access, the source, who worked directly on the case, said, "Basically that's all I want to say. He did not give law enforcement a backdoor into Phantom Secure." ... One of the sources said Ramos did not have the technical knowledge to implement a backdoor though, and so the FBI asked Ramos to lure another Phantom member who could. Ramos declined, the source said.
  5. ^ a b "Cameron Ortis: What we know so far about the national security case". BBC News. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
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