Law enforcement breaks the MatrixgettyAn international criminal communications network, known as the Matrix, containing more than 2 million encrypted messages in 33 languages and spanning 40 servers, has been broken apart by a co-ordination law enforcement operation that started in 2021. Led by Europol and Eurojust, the Matrix network, not to be confused with the perfectly legitimate and unconnected Matrix.org Foundation which Dutch police confirmed has nothing to do with the crypto communications service Matrix, first came to the attention of law enforcement after messages were found on the smartphone of a man convicted of a Dutch journalist.Exiting The MatrixAccording to a Dec. 03 statement published by Europol, the Matrix operation connected at least 8,000 criminal users who paid between $1,360 (1,300) and $1,680 (1,600) for six months access to the encrypted messaging service. With server hardware physically based largely in France and Germany, a joint investigation involving both French and Dutch law enforcement monitored all messages sent using the Matrix for a three month period. These messages, which Europol said amounted to 2.3 million that were intercepted and deciphered during the investigation, will now be used as evidence and to support further investigations.Although this is far from the first encrypted messaging platform that has been dismantled by international law enforcement operations, and Europol said it will not be the last, it was technically more complex than previous networks such as Sky ECC and EncroChat, Europol said.MORE FOR YOUAccording to Europol, the Matrix operators were convinced that the service was superior and more secure than previous applications used by criminals, but this conviction proved to be misplaced and will likely be replaced with another type of conviction in due course. Despite being an invite-only network, law enforcement investigators were able to intercept the messaging service and monitor the activity on the service. It is not clear at this point what the innovative technology used by those investigators to crack the encrypted network was.Matrix Messages Linked To Drug Trafficking, Arms Trafficking, Money LaunderingEuropol said that among the 2.3 million encrypted messages intercepted from the Matrix network during the operation, links to serious crimes such as international drug trafficking, arms trafficking and money laundering were plentiful. Three suspects have been arrested so far as a result, one in France and two in Spain. Europol said that the main Matrix servers have now been taken down.