Watch: Inside the FBI’s Secret Phone Company

In 2018, a secure communications app called Anom started to gain popularity among organized criminals. Soon, top tier drug traffickers were using it all over the world. Because they thought their messages were secure, smugglers and hitmen coordinated high stakes crimes across the platform. But Anom had a secret: it was secretly run by the FBI.

That’s the pitch I sent to the annual hacking conference DEF CON. Much to my delight, they accepted, and below you can now see the talk in full. 

I run through nearly every aspect of Anom in just under 40 minutes: how the phone and network itself worked, how the backdoor functioned, the corporate structure of Anom, what the FBI did to influence its growth, and most importantly, how it started to spiral out of control.

I won’t spoil every plot point, but here’s my favorite: when stock of Google Pixels started to dwindle because Anom was using so many, the FBI secretly flew a Gulfstream jet loaded with duffel bags full of Android phones over to Europe. Dutch authorities then planted those phones in a dead drop, and Anom’s resellers got their phones, all without knowing the shadowy hand of the FBI had just helped them.

The talk is detailed, but there is of course much, much more in my book DARK WIRE about the entire Anom operation. You can get that here too. 

Here is a link to the talk, hosted on DEF CON’s YouTube channel.