American law enforcement agencies have begun using data obtained from hacking into the encrypted telephone network Sky to investigate international crime cases, as reported by 404 media based on analysis of US judicial materials.
The hack, which took place in 2021, allowed European agencies to access millions of messages despite Sky being advertised as protected through encryption. The data collected has led to numerous investigations and arrests in Europe, with its influence now reaching the United States.
Declassified documents reveal that the data played a crucial role in the case of Milos Radonzhich, also known as the “Pirate of the Unknown.” Radonzhich and his accomplices used commercial container vessels to transport large quantities of illicit substances from South America to the USA and Europe. Radonzhich was arrested in Italy in October 2023 and was later extradited to the USA in July 2024.
The charges against Radonzhich are based on information obtained from Sky messages, where he and his accomplices used various platforms such as Sky ECC, Signal, iMessage, and FaceTime to coordinate the loading process for the illicit goods. While US authorities received messages from their European counterparts, it is unclear if they have access to the entire Sky database.
Sky messages contain detailed information about ships, geodata, and other key pieces of evidence linking Radonzhich to the device itself, including photos of receipts with his name and even mentions of his family members’ birthdays.
During the investigation, Radonzhich had several mobile phones seized, including an iPhone 14 and two Samsung devices. Although he provided the password for his iPhone to Italian authorities voluntarily, he claimed not to remember the passwords for the other devices, raising suspicions among investigators, as this behavior is typical of international criminals attempting to protect compromising data.
The Radonzhich case is not the only one in the US utilizing Sky data. In 2023, European police arrested three individuals in Belgrade described as the “biggest” drug lords of the Balkans. The arrests were made possible by hacking into the encrypted messenger Sky ECC, which the criminals used to conceal their activities. Additionally, ten more cartel members were arrested in Belgium, Serbia, Peru, and the Netherlands, totaling 23 people.
It is important to note two other encrypted communication services, ENCROChat and Anom, which were previously hacked and subsequently shut down. Like Sky ECC, these paid communication applications were popular among criminals for concealing their illegal operations. Data from all three services have been used by law enforcement as evidence in numerous arrests.