Two days later, Microsoft managed to send Yann a measly 8,500 euros. “What is this a joke?” Yann snapped back. Microsoft’s partnership with Yann wasn’t the only relationship that fell apart. His other contacts no longer wanted to sell his drugs. Something about this speed was cursed.
“Bro, I don’t want any more tjack,” one wrote.
“Please brother,” Microsoft responded.
“Brother, the agreement is not good,” the associate continued.
Within the Swedish intelligence unit, Microsoft’s constant fall from grace was a source of great entertainment. When the smuggler admitted in messages from Anøm that he had never heard of a drug dealer losing multiple shipments in such quick succession, smiles broke out throughout the office. The analysts gossiped among themselves: “Have you seen this? Have you seen what Rivkin sent?
On April 13, about four days after TJACK was seized, Microsoft was in his office with the blinds closed and his laptop placed on a blue couch. It was just after 11 at night. He quickly flipped through different spreadsheets that tracked his income and medication costs. His situation was bad when he scribbled figures in his notebook in March. Now it was terrible.
What’s more, other bands began to suspect Anøm. As soon as one of them started using it, the police confiscated a shipment of drugs. Anøm was cursed, one customer said.
An anonymous tipster created a website called “Anøm Exposed” that claimed Anøm was funneling user data to US authorities. Arbiv, the associate who had helped think about the murder, asked Microsoft the question that was increasingly on people’s lips: Was Anøm compromised? The next day, another associate expressed the same concern: Maybe the police had found a way to read Anøm’s messages? Then a few more people Arbiv knew were captured in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. They only used Anøm to communicate.
Microsoft dismissed every warning. If Anøm was really compromised, wouldn’t everyone already be behind bars? Instead of phones, Microsoft focused on its messengers and hideout handlers. A crew member must have made a mistake. To try to calm users’ growing fears, Microsoft provided Arbiv with boilerplate text for drip-feeding criminals now suspicious of Anøm.
“Cybersecurity is an arms race. Anøm constantly develops the platform to stay ahead of current threats. “Any provider that can guarantee that their system cannot be accessed is selling snake oil,” the message said. As a final guarantee, Microsoft stressed that Anøm was run by criminals. Why would a company run by criminals, designed to protect them, let the police read their users’ messages?
When its most trusted advisors mentioned Anøm again and again, Microsoft didn’t listen. In his opinion, Anøm was never the problem. Everyone knew something was wrong except him. Microsoft, like the monkeys tattooed on his arm, had his hands covering his eyes and ears.
This article has been taken from Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History by Joseph Cox. Copyright © 2024 by Joseph Cox. Available from PublicAffairs, an imprint of Perseus Book LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc., New York, NY, USA. All rights reserved.
If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.