Here's the true and fascinating story of a global law enforcement operation that unfolded entirely within the Android ecosystem.

For three years, the FBI and the Australian Federal Police secretly operated ANOM, an encrypted communication platform marketed to criminals as “ultra-secure.” In this session, we’ll break down the unprecedented technical setup that enabled the interception of over 27 million messages—ultimately leading to thousands of arrests worldwide.

We’ll dive deep into the inner workings of ANOM (a modified Android OS, intentionally flawed encryption mechanisms implemented by the agencies, and clever tricks like the “fake calculator” used to hide the app...) to discover how one of the largest digital infiltration operations in history was executed—right at the heart of our Android world.

The goal of this talk is to use the formidable story of ANOM to draw attention to security constraints of mobile development, and raise some questions regarding privacy concerns on our smartphones.