Australian police bust Ghost cybercrime app, leading to dozens of global arrests

• Australian police announced that they have infiltrated Ghost, an encrypted communications app developed for criminals.
• Jay Je Yoon Jung, the app’s alleged administrator, appeared in a Sydney court facing charges of supporting a criminal organization and profiting from crime.
• Police arrested 38 suspects in raids across four states in Australia, with additional arrests made in Canada, Sweden, Ireland and Italy.

Australian police said Wednesday they have infiltrated Ghost, an encrypted global communications app developed for criminals, leading to dozens of arrests.

The app’s alleged administrator, Jay Je Yoon Jung, 32, appeared in a Sydney court Wednesday on charges including supporting a criminal organization and benefiting from proceeds of crime.

Jung did not enter pleas or apply to be released on bail. He will remain behind bars until his case returns to court in November.

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Australian police arrested 38 suspects in raids across four states in recent days while law enforcement agencies were also making arrests in Canada, Sweden, Ireland and Italy, Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney said.

Illicit drugs are seen in a vehicle’s concealed compartment after police revealed on Sept. 18, 2024, that they had infiltrated Ghost, an encrypted global communications app developed for criminals, leading to dozens of arrests. (Australian Federal Police via AP)

“We allege hundreds of criminals including Italian organized crime, motorcycle gang members, Middle Eastern organized crime and Korean organized crime have used Ghost in Australia and overseas to import illicit drugs and order killings,” McCartney told reporters.

Australian police had prevented 50 people from being killed, kidnapped or seriously hurt by monitoring threats among 125,000 messages and 120 video calls since March, Assistant Commissioner Kirsty Schofield said.

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Police allege the Jung developed the app specifically for criminal use in 2017.

Australia joined a Europol-led global taskforce targeting Ghost in 2022.

Col. Florian Manet, who heads France’s Home Affairs Ministry National Cyber Command Technical Department, said in a statement issued by Australian police that his officers provided technical resources to the task force over several years that helped decrypt the communications.

McCartney said the French had “provided a foot in the door” for Australian police to decrypt Ghost communications.

Australian police announced on Wednesday that they have successfully infiltrated Ghost, an encrypted global communications app designed for criminals, resulting in dozens of arrests. In this undated photo, provided by the Australian Federal Police, seized illicit drugs are shown. (Australian Federal Police via AP)

Australian police technicians were able to modify software updates regularly pushed out by the administrator, McCartney said.

“In effect, we infected the devices, enabling us to access the content on Australian devices,” McCartney said, adding that the alleged administrator lived in his parents’ Sydney home and had no police record.

Jung was arrested at his home on Tuesday.

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Police say Jung used a network of resellers to offer specialized handsets to criminals around the world.

The modified smartphones sold for $1,590, which included a six-month subscription to Ghost and tech support.