European authorities have dismantled Matrix, an encrypted messaging platform made by criminals for criminals.
Europol, alongside French and Dutch authorities, has taken down the “sophisticated messaging service” Matrix, also known as Mactrix, Totalsec, X-quantum, and Q-safe.
The criminal messaging platform was discovered by Dutch authorities while searching a criminal's phone who was being convicted for the murder of a Dutch journalist in 2021.
From that point on, authorities closely monitored the site and found that it was far superior to other encrypted messaging platforms, such as Sky, ECC, and EncroChat – two more platforms used predominantly by criminals.
According to messages intercepted by authorities, the platform is linked to serious crimes, including international drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and money laundering.
Matrix used an invite-only policy, and its founders boasted that it was one of the best and safest platforms. However, Matrix's infrastructure may have been more complex than other services, as it required 40 servers in several countries, including France and Germany.
Authorities were able to penetrate the messaging service and monitor it for three months, during which over two million messages were intercepted. These 2.3 million messages came in 33 different languages, demonstrating the scope of the cybercrime platform.
Europol, supported by Eurojust and other European authorities, initiated the site's takedown.
After dismantling the encrypted messaging platform, authorities used the information gathered to pursue criminals. This led to the arrests of criminals in France and Spain, alongside the search of homes in the Netherlands and Lithuania.
The servers found in France and Germany were removed. Criminal users were made aware of the situation through a notice that authorities put on the site.
“Through legal requests, authorities will now be able to access the messages for their investigations,” said Europol.
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