Phantom Secure DEVELOPED_BY Vince Ramos
Joseph states that Vince Ramos created Phantom Secure.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“The person who created Phantom Secure was Vince Ramos.”
Episode
23 November 2021 Official episode · Official transcript
cybercrime
The episode examines encrypted-phone companies used by criminals and the increasingly aggressive law-enforcement operations used to infiltrate their devices, servers, and communications.
Topics: Encrypted-phone platforms and closed user networks, PGP-encrypted email, Remote wiping of seized devices, Law-enforcement deployment of malware to endpoints, Malicious software updates and update-server compromise, Supply-chain attacks involving fake devices or applications, Server misconfiguration and exposed encryption keys, Real-time collection of encrypted-message content, Honeypot communications platforms, SIM-swapping, End-to-end encrypted messaging, Law-enforcement offensive cyber operations, RICO prosecutions involving encrypted-phone companies
Links published on the Darknet Diaries episode page. Not LLM output.
Qualified statements from this episode, not graph facts.
Phantom Secure DEVELOPED_BY Vince Ramos
Joseph states that Vince Ramos created Phantom Secure.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“The person who created Phantom Secure was Vince Ramos.”
Phantom Secure USES BlackBerry
Phantom Secure took BlackBerry phones and customized them for its service.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“take a BlackBerry, load it with sort of custom PGP-encrypted e-mail software”
Phantom Secure USES PGP
Phantom Secure devices provided PGP-encrypted email.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“custom PGP-encrypted e-mail software”
Phantom Secure USES remote wipe
Phantom Secure offered customers the ability to remotely wipe data from phones.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“They also introduced a feature where you can remotely wipe what was stored on the phone.”
Phantom Secure takedown INVOLVES Phantom Secure
The Phantom Secure takedown concerned the company and its encrypted-phone operation.
Derived Confidence 91% · Jack Rhysider EP 105 Details
“the feds took it down in 2018”
Encrochat USES remote wipe
Encrochat devices included wipe functionality.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“It also had a wipe functionality.”
Encrochat malware operation INVOLVES Encrochat
The operation targeted Encrochat's infrastructure and devices.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Jack Rhysider EP 105 Details
“the French police got a warrant to access the data center and Encrochat’s server”
Encrochat malware operation INVOLVES malicious update
French police used a malicious update distributed through an Encrochat update server.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“pushed this malicious update to the Encrochat devices”
Encrochat malware operation INVOLVES spyware
The operation involved malware that silently copied messages and potentially GPS data from Encrochat devices.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“this piece of malware, it would silently send copies of the messages sent and received”
Operation Venetic INVOLVES Encrochat
Joseph says Encrochat data was placed under the Operation Venetic umbrella in the UK, with some uncertainty.
Uncertain Confidence 90% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“when the Encrochat data came in, I believe they put it under that umbrella as well”
Sky ECC USES remote wipe
Sky advertised self-destruct messaging functionality.
Explicit Confidence 97% · Jack Rhysider EP 105 Details
“The website lists the features of the phone, saying it’s got a self-destruct messaging capability”
Sky fake-device operation INVOLVES Sky ECC
The operation involved fake Sky devices or apps being introduced into European markets.
Attributed Confidence 94% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“somebody introduced fake Sky devices to the markets in Europe”
Sky fake-device operation INVOLVES supply chain attack
Jack characterizes the suspected interception and compromise of devices before sale as a supply-chain attack.
Derived Confidence 96% · Jack Rhysider EP 105 Details
“I would call this a supply chain attack.”
Sky fake-device operation INVOLVES Sky ECC
The suspected fake-device operation concerned Sky phones and applications.
Explicit Confidence 96% · Jack Rhysider EP 105 Details
“These weren’t the official Sky chat apps that were supposed to be secure.”
Ennetcom server misconfiguration ASSOCIATED_WITH Ennetcom
Joseph attributes the ability to decrypt Ennetcom communications to a possible server-side encryption misconfiguration or implementation issue.
Uncertain Confidence 95% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“it appears that there was some sort of misconfiguration with how Ennetcom encrypted these communications”
MPC's operators used Ennetcom before deciding to create their own encrypted-phone company.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“They did use Ennetcom for a while”
MPC ASSOCIATED_WITH James Gillespie
Joseph identifies James Gillespie as one of the brothers running MPC, while noting that his brother was also involved.
Attributed Confidence 88% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“James Gillespie and his brother as well”
MPC ASSOCIATED_WITH Martin Kok
Joseph reports that MPC worked with Martin Kok on branding and advertising before Kok was assassinated; he further says the assassination was reportedly carried out with MPC's consent and help.
Attributed Confidence 84% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“this was an assassination with the consent and the help of MPC”
ANOM was secretly presented as an encrypted phone while functioning as an FBI honeypot.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 105 Details
“It was a honeypot created entirely by the FBI to snoop, spy, and gather incriminating evidence from criminals.”
Operation Trojan Shield INVOLVES ANOM
Operation Trojan Shield was the FBI operation involving ANOM phones.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 105 Details
“This was dubbed Operation Trojan Shield in the FBI, and their ANOM phones”
Operation Trojan Shield INVOLVES Honeypot
The campaign used ANOM as a covert honeypot to collect evidence from users.
Derived Confidence 98% · Jack Rhysider EP 105 Details
“a honeypot created entirely by the FBI”
Silent Circle DEVELOPED_BY Phil Zimmermann
Joseph says Silent Circle was made by Phil Zimmermann, the creator of PGP.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“that is made by Phil Zimmermann, the creator of PGP”
Phil Zimmermann ASSOCIATED_WITH PGP
Phil Zimmermann is identified as the creator of PGP.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Joseph Cox EP 105 Details
“the creator of PGP”
No claim extracted; Signal is described as using end-to-end encryption, but the episode does not identify that encryption as PGP.
Works mentioned in the transcript. Distinct from show-note sources.
Model gpt-5.6-luna · prompt 1.5.19 · schema 1.5.19 · 2026-09-13T07:21:54.485539+00:00