Individual cases relating to the fall of Encrochat are starting to surface & the scope of the breach is becoming apparent & raising significant questions about the validity of the techniques used to gather the intelligence.
In Ireland, a man has appeared in court for 2 counts of conspiracy to murder, conspiring to possess firearms under suspicious circumstances, conspiring to make or supply a passport for a fraudulent purpose, conspiracy to rob, conspiracy to convert and transfer criminal property and a total of 11 drug offences.
A significant part of the prosecution is based upon the intelligence gathered from Encrochat & the Defences solicitor has questioned the validity of the exercise, given 50% of Encrochats customers had their private communications listened to, potentially illegally.
The concerning feature here is the absolute dearth of press reporting and media attention in respect of a massive wholesale breach of an encrypted communication platform. It appears that as many as 50 per cent of users have had their communications intercepted. Ciaran Shields of Madden and Finucane was quoted saying:
"It is inconceivable that all of these communications that have been concerning the preparation, instigation. or commission of crime.
For this reason it is now incumbent on the National Crime Agency and the police to provide clarity on the lawful basis used to legally breach this network and seize this information as potential evidential product."
Read the story in full at The Northern Ireland News