Phantom Secure
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Phantom Secure was a Canadian company that provided modified secure mobile phones, which were equipped with a remotely operated
.Arrest of Vincent Ramos
CEO Vincent Ramos was arrested at an Over Easy restaurant in Bellingham, Washington on 7 March 2018. At the time he lived in Richmond, British Columbia. Ramos had turned state's witness by June. He handed over all login details to his systems, giving authorities access to his whole operation. Ramos did not know the real identities of many clients and police worked to uncover them. [1]
Convictions
It was said to have provided "secure communications to high-level drug traffickers and other criminal organization leaders" according to a 2018 FBI takedown announcement.[2] Its CEO, Vincent Ramos, was sentenced in 2019 to a nine-year prison sentence after telling undercover agents that he created the device to help drug traffickers. Customers included members of the Sinaloa Cartel,[3] and the FBI reportedly asked Ramos to plant a backdoor in Phantom Secure's encrypted network, which he refused to do.[4]
Cameron Ortis
In September 2019 the RCMP
In 2018 a joint operation between the RCMP and
He faces five charges under the Security of Information Act and the Criminal Code.[1][5]
Charges against him include that in 2015 he supplied "special operational information" to "V.R", believed to be Vincent Ramos.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Ling, Justin (20 April 2021). "The Rise and Fall of a Double Agent". The Walrus. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- ^ Staff (16 March 2018). "International Criminal Communication Service Dismantled: Phantom Secure Helped Drug Traffickers, Organized Crime Worldwide". Federal Bureau of Investigation.
- Vice Motherboard.
- Vice Motherboard.
A third source told Motherboard "He never gave law enforcement a backdoor into Phantom Secure. He did not do that." When pressed on whether the FBI still asked for access, the source, who worked directly on the case, said, "Basically that's all I want to say. He did not give law enforcement a backdoor into Phantom Secure." ... One of the sources said Ramos did not have the technical knowledge to implement a backdoor though, and so the FBI asked Ramos to lure another Phantom member who could. Ramos declined, the source said.
- ^ a b "Cameron Ortis: What we know so far about the national security case". BBC News. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2021.