WhatsApp and Telegram may be your messaging apps of choice, but they are not for everyone. Hackers, terrorists, illegal ultras, and other criminals rely on other apps that few have likely heard of. However, these apps are giving Indian security officials a tough time.
Prominent among them is Zangi, who was reportedly traced to the phones of notorious gang members based in Delhi-NCR, Haryana and Punjab.
Zangi is in the middle 14 mobile apps which were “banned” in India by the government in May last year, as were several books it was reported at the time, citing sources.
Apart from Zangi, nandbox, 2nd line, Threema, Safeswiss, Element, IMO, MediaFire, Briar, BChat, Crypviser, Enigma, and Wickr Me were reportedly closed due to security reasons. Sources indicated that the apps were being used by Pakistan-based operatives to communicate with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
What is the problem?
In short: their messages cannot be traced or retrieved.
Unlike other popular messaging apps, Zangi, Threema, nandbox, Safeswiss, Element, and Briar don’t require users to provide even basic personal information like phone numbers or email addresses to sign up.
Instead, most of them generate their own virtual numbers or unique URLs to communicate with other users. Take Zangi, for example. A username and password is all that is required when a user registers. It provides a 10-digit number that acts as a unique phone number in the app.
They claim to provide “military-grade” end-to-end encryption for messages, making them nearly impossible for anyone to trace or read in transit. Encryption and decryption of messages takes place on the sender’s and receiver’s machines.
Unlike large commercial messengers, they do not store the conversations on any central server, which means that law enforcement agencies cannot retrieve them in cases of any criminal or legal situation. In Zangi’s case, messages are deleted once delivered. Apps also do not collect data.
Most of them are free. Those that do not provide features to ensure that law enforcement cannot track their payments. For example, Threema – which has more than 1 million downloads on Google Play – asks its users to send payment in cash by courier to its registered office in Churerstrasse, Switzerland.
Unsupervised structures make it difficult for officials to monitor conversations between criminal networks and prosecute them in court.
Developers say the apps are aimed at rights activists, journalists, and dissidents in authoritarian states. However, as with any asset, applications are used for illegal purposes.
Wickr Me, an app owned by Amazon, shut down last year after a media investigation found it had become a tool for people who trafficked in child sexual abuse.
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