Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
.

Sunday, February 16, 2020

'Narcos' migrate to WhatsApp to evade intelligence service

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat TY Neal  Milenio

To keep their communications secret and away from the access of government authorities, Mexican drug cartels have a secret weapon, 100 percent inviolable, which today has the security agencies of several countries in check.

It is an app available to everyone: “WhatsApp”.

Thanks to its high level of encryption, WhatsApp and other similar applications, have become the preferred tool for organized crime to coordinate sensitive communications, including murders and drug shipments, according to US Attorney General  William Barr.

 "We have seen how transnational drug cartels increasingly transfer their communications to these commercially available encrypted platforms designed to block legal access," he said last July.


Asked by MILLENIO about it, officials of the security cabinet in Mexico confirmed that such messages are practically impossible to penetrate, because they use encrypted information from one point to another, very different from what happens with a phone call or an SMS, which They can be monitored by different types of equipment. They detailed that they have detected that criminals prefer to make calls through the application and not through conventional cell phone, because in this way they feel more secure in the face of the possibility that their phones are intervened.

By using WhatsApp as their primary method of communication, drug traffickers prevent intelligence agencies from conducting telephone wiretaps authorized by a judge, which for years has been the main method of spying on their movements.

Last October, during the failed attempt to capture Ovidio Guzmán in Culiacán, the Sinaloa cartel made intensive use of WhatsApp, sending messages offering 200 pesos to those who joined the operation to free him.

Also through this network someone communicated the order to cease fire to the hitmen, after negotiating the release of the capo. Those messages, which were leaked by other users, could not theoretically be intercepted by the Mexican government in real time, giving the criminal organization the tactical advantage.

“In times past, when we had considerable success in the fight against similar cartels, the indispensable tool was communications intelligence. It is still the indispensable tool today,” Barr explained during a speech he gave last year. To illustrate the problem, the prosecutor used an example of a Mexican cartel, although he did not specify which one, and warned that through messages of the application, this organization has coordinated murders and drug shipments. "We discovered that the cartel had used WhatsApp for the specific purpose of coordinating the killings of police officers based in Mexico," he said about it at the International Cyber ​​Security Conference, held on July 23. According to the narration by Barr, the cartel, which only detailed that recently began to triangulate large amounts of fentanyl from Asia to Mexico and then to the United States - possibly Sinaloa - ended up ordering the murder of several police officers via chat.

"If we could have obtained legal access to chat in a timely manner, we could have saved these lives," he said. In that sense, Barr said that accessing this information would allow "locating fentanyl shipments and confiscating them at the border (...) if our law enforcement agencies do not recover the ability to obtain legal access to encrypted communications and platforms, The chances of successfully prosecuting the war on drugs by traditional means of law enforcement are scarce, "Barr concluded.

The term used by computer experts to describe the phenomenon of hiding communications outside the law is known as "going dark. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) describes the phenomenon with the following scenario: “law enforcement agencies, at all levels, have the legal authority to intercept and access communications and information in accordance with court orders, but it often lacks the technical capacity to carry out these orders due to a fundamental change in communications services and technologies.”

The fact that any user of these platforms can "go dark" has sparked an intense debate in the US and other parts of the world, from where the authorities have demanded that the industry giants like Facebook grant them a way to read the encrypted messages.

55 comments:

  1. Good & Bad is determined after the fact.
    What makes government rights moral free from privacy concerned issues?
    Where the same espionage technology is not available to all?

    I am a strong advocate for privacy laws. Regardless of what one does.

    E42

    E42

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, not a big fan of Big Brother watching.

      Delete
    2. Saludos Granderojo.
      Despite the neverending surge of drugs coming into America. We appreciate your efforts of combating this epidemic. Moreover, to all those who wish America well.


      E42

      Delete
  2. I predominately use whats app for my legitimate small business. Its a very useful app to send pictures ans voice messages to associates and family/friends abroad. But thanks. Now since its being used as an illegal tool and now under dea microscope it will be abolished in 2 years tops. just like how they took away the nextel cellphone radios aqui en la frontera back in the 2000s because of same illegal purposes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually if you are going to accuse others of being "morons" you might want to grab a mirror...or better yet go read some books on encryption techniques and cryptography. Properly implemented E2E encryption using open source technologies and algorithms effectively thwarts LE efforts to intercept in real time. Just a fact.

      Delete
    2. @10:25PM
      It appears that E2E encyryption is the only way (besides redesigning CPUs) to defeat Spectre and Meltdown.

      Delete
  3. This article should be in past tense. I recently read that international government agencies made a joint collaboration with whatsapp Twitter and Facebook. All of these apps are now government monitored. Even real military level encryption is getting cracked nowadays. People just think whatsapp is safe. Us government probably wrote this article to entrap ppl lol

    ReplyDelete
  4. You’re a moron to thing that the government doesn’t have complete access to all communication on any and every platform.

    This propaganda piece of an article is an obvious attempt to get the narco idiots to believe they’re safe in their communications when in reality they are not.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think your right on the government having access to WhatsApp. Not only is it a drug issue, but more importantly it could be a security issue. Traffickers wake up wanting to cross drugs everyday. Terrorist organizations want to kill and do harm to the U.S everyday.

      Delete
    2. @1:50: re moron, You are absolutely correct. I n WW2 the Allied forces broke the Japanese and Nazi military codes but kept quiet about it. In the Japanese case Admiral Yamamoto was killed. In the German case, the Enigma machine and codes were broken to materially shorten WW2.

      Take it to the bank, the criminal worlds are under skilled surveillance with results we smucks won't know about until much later.
      Sh#t, surveillance technology knows more about us than we, know about ourselves. If you have kids urge them to avoid deviant or criminal associates or behaviors. Big Brother is onto everyone, good, bad, or indifferent!
      If you don't believe me read: "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism" (2019) by Soshanna Zobloff
      Mexico-Watcher

      Delete
  5. lol, a bumch of ISIS retards also believed that ”whatsapp” & similar apps was secure..

    Jesus christ,how low intelligent do you have to be to not understand that CIA,NSA & countless others have FULL controll over these apps & communications. They have their own satellites for gods sake that basically scans all communications.

    oh yea,and then there was Edward Snowden who basically told us much of it all. (As if countless books by intelligence spooks already havent through the years...)

    There was one canadian who managed to create secure phones..’Phantom’..and look what the gov did to that guy..they simply do not tolerate that. If there was a 100% secure way to communicate,the US gov would shut it down very fast.

    Want secure? Go stoneage,NO electronics whatsoever. Paper notes at most.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Phantom phones were still susceptible to the Spectre and Meltdown security vulnerability as are also Blackberry. No cell phone or currently available computer is safe from the above mentioned vulnerabilities.

      Delete
    2. Another security vulnerability is the Foreshadow discovered in 2018 and goes beyond Spectre and Meltdown in some instances.

      Delete
    3. @9:23
      Those 3 vulnerabilities affect all cell phones and computers regardless if it's a blackberry or "phantom".

      Delete
    4. With enough money,a group could make a communications device that used text and scalar transmission. That would be secure.

      Delete
    5. 12:22 am
      Only problem with that is that scalar transmission isn't real.

      Delete
    6. 1:02 scalar transmission is very real.
      The military uses it.
      We use it to heal people.
      My friends wife just cured their herpes and hpv.the Dr used a DNA test called a Pcr test..they said the herpes was gone,and hpv was gone!
      Here's the website
      Scalarlight
      I sent it to chivis to help her health problems
      If she stays on it for 4 months to a year all of her health probs will be gone.
      Scalar energy is real.
      BTW,the US Navy used scalar energy to transmit voice calls in 1919.
      It was called the Rodgers system.

      Delete
    7. @11:14PM
      The military does not use it and the Rodgers system seems to have used conventional tech. The website you reference is peddling healing products based on the *alleged* existence of scalar waves which is not supported by the scientific peer review.

      Delete
  6. I honestly don’t think WhatsApp is secure. But oh well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. no its not secure, there is a backdoor, dont believe what the cops say, thats just what they want you to believe. get a security consultant to make your own encrypted app.

      Delete
    2. Won't matter on a smart phone.whatever you type into a smart phone also gets sent to NSA.

      Delete
  7. They just figured this out?? I hope not because DTO's have been using Whatsapp Telegram Silence & others to communicate for years now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bro you beat me to it...this is old. Whatsapp has been used in narcotics trafficking for some years now..lol

      Delete
  8. U can't beat the Cartels they are Mexico, in time they will have government and President. They have the President now (Amlo), he is under their protection

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Drug cartels can't never take over mx. Because after that the USA will be next!

      Delete
  9. they also use facebook

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Facebook owns WhatsApp. Both are being watched

      Delete
    2. Facebook is CIA.
      Google is NSA.
      They built them

      Delete
  10. What if the government wants us to believe that WhatsApp is secure but in reality is anything but.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course they want us to believe that crap we all are watched nowadays privacy is dead they want to control the population on what we do and what we are up to the fkn devil worshippers want to ruin us

      Delete
  11. They have been doing this for years now.

    ReplyDelete
  12. doesnt always work
    read this:

    https://www.krgv.com/news/federal-agents-arrest-palmview-couple-on-drug-trafficking-charges

    ReplyDelete
  13. Signal is better in my opinion. You can set your messages to be deleted after a certain time. You chose the time... Yeah maybe they can read your messages but the people that actually go through your phone can't... Especially in Mexico where cops just take your phone and go through it. No warrant needed

    ReplyDelete
  14. From FRS radios to whatsapp always adapting like a chess game

    ReplyDelete
  15. Everything you type into a smart phone is known to NSA.wether you use Whatsapp or not.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This is a joke, isn’t it?!

    I, mean, people can’t believe in this day and age that governments and especially US government can’t have access to phone apps and such lol

    On the other hand, vast majority of criminals are not that sharp to begin with, so I guess it’s worth to put info out there lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those in law enforcement and the criminal justice system call the felony-stupid job security.

      Delete
  17. That's why we need big brother to watch the criminals.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Legalize and educate ! No one has to die cartels cant keep getting rich and powerful no need for encrytion no need for the feds to keep poking their noses where they dont belong no generations of kids overdosing on these stupid drugs the governments create to sow fear to keep their pos agents busy. No prison populations pushed to the brink no more Mex politicians inflating their own pockets . Sick of the bullshit on both sides . And for people who think it wont work check out how Switzerland dealt with their own drug epidimic. It really is a simple solution but law enforcement (i use that term loosely )would have to admit defeat and a lot of them would be out of work so dont hold your breath but if they were serious about caring for peoples lives that would be the best place to start and its not just legalizing drugs it's the education part that they could focus on and it should start in grade 1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The fraternal order of police will never allow such layoffs of employees. Along with those 3 letter agencies who rely on financial support.
      Drug policies in other countries are working. Reducing crime and educating offenders without the high cost from taxpayers.
      It's a Big Business to apprehend, incarcerate and try individuals. A judicial system bankrolled by its criminals.

      Delete
    2. 929 you crack me up, legalize drugs lol, even if that was done, Cartels would resort to the other things they are doing...extortion, kidnapping, fuel theft, human trafficking, avacado theft, train robberies, wake up.

      Delete
    3. 7:42 Oh Boy.....100.0 feel the hurricane flying over your head?

      Delete
  19. You can also use xbox and playstation to send messages,and u dont need all that mumbo jumbo stuff anyways just get burner phones and dispose of them frequently,like twice a week depends how nuch dope u move,easy!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. So the great Sinaloa cartel leader Ovidio offered a whopping 200 pesos to help free him? Lol wow

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was a joke from the arresting bounty hunters egged by US ambassador and Uttham wha'sis name who tried to start a civil war and were thwarted by our glorious Presidente Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador who is no fool...

      Delete
  21. Group chats were never encrypted and never will be.
    But the encryption of the various messengers is quite good, the CIA, NSA can't really get at the content. But you don't have to as long as there are huge gaps in the mobile protocols (e.g. GSMMAP.org).
    In addition, the provider can send silent SMS with commands to a mobile phone at any time and also install software. In addition there is the meta data, that's what Ed was talking about.
    And since almost everyone clicks on pretty much all the links, it's much easier to hack the phone like this than to decrypt Messenger Traffic. Or an indirect attack, Or just using PEGASUS like the mexican government.

    @Chivis, Buggs:
    Why did you put the FOX News/Breitbart sytle trailer (first few minutes) at the beginning of the video blog again? This is so lurid and doesn't match your level and the quality BB normally offers.

    Why is Borderlandbeat still using http. Why not https!!! That is also a huge security issue. A sensitive person might think that you work for "Not Such an Agency" doing SIGINT.

    But nevertheless keep on, your work is very appreciated.

    El Ranas

    ReplyDelete
  22. Whatsapp is not secure, they have devices available from China and Eastern Europe which can intercept whatsapp messages, these devices are readily sold to law enforcement.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hahah this BS. Once someone tips them off they intercept EVERYTHING no matter what app you use. After your get arrested they’ll give you a copy of the pictures and all the records whom you communicated with and what was discussed. My advise stay away from the narco world sooner or later someone will betray you. Trust me I know and going to in soon after a compa I knew for about 20 years did what he could to save his ass.

    ReplyDelete
  24. pgp is secure but whatsapp holds your private keys so no whatsapp is not secure.

    ReplyDelete
  25. just buy an iphone
    those coksukers at apple wont unlock your device for the govt
    (i refuse to buy apple in support of big brother)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Gonna put an end to "el negro de WhatsApp", "la vieja gritona", "andale por chismoso" and all the rest of the mamadas that come along with the app.

    ReplyDelete
  27. “WhatsApp , Facebook, Google are government spy agencies!

    ReplyDelete

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