Experts for alleged criminals charged in one of Australia’s biggest criminal sting operations will be given access to the coding of a messaging app built by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to catch those allegedly involved in organised crime.
The specialists are working for three men charged by police who were working on Operation Ironside.
Those specialists will be given access to the source code for the encrypted messaging platform AN0M but only under “controlled and secure conditions”, Justice Sandi McDonald said in the South Australian Supreme Court on Friday.
A year ago — in one of the most-significant policing operations in Australia’s history — Operation Ironside saw thousands of police across multiple agencies execute hundreds of search warrants, arrest more than 200 people and seize more than 100 guns, tonnes of drugs and $45 million in cash.
The sting was only possible because the AFP was able to intercept millions of messages through AN0M, an encrypted communication platform that enabled users to send messages, photos, videos and voice clips.
AN0M – which began operating in August 2018 — was a subscription-based service and users could only obtain a handset from a distributor of AN0M devices.
While users could change their name or username on the AN0M platform, they could not change the unique serial number linked to the handset which allowed communication to be traced back to their device.
It was shut down in June 2021.
Questions over AFP’s processes
Lawyers for three Adelaide men charged with drug trafficking offences as part of Operation Ironside are seeking to have the communication obtained through the AN0M platform excluded as evidence in the case against them.
As part of that challenge, lawyers issued a subpoena for the source code of the encrypted messaging service from the AFP as well as 50 other categories of documents.
