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Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever
The inside story of the largest law-enforcement sting operation ever, in which the FBI made its own tech start-up to wiretap the world, shows how cunning both the authorities and drug traffickers have become, with privacy implications for everyone. In 2018, a powerful app for secure communications called Anom took root among organized criminals. They believed Anom allowed them to conduct business in the shadows. Except for one thing: it was secretly run by the FBI.
Backdoor access to Anom and a series of related investigations granted American, Australian, and European authorities a front-row seat to the underworld. Tens of thousands of criminals worldwide appeared in full view of the same agents they were trying to evade. International smugglers. Money launderers. Hitmen. A sprawling global economy as efficient and interconnected as the legal one. Officers watched drug shipments and murder plots unfold, making arrests without blowing their cover. But, as the FBI started to lose control of Anom, did the agency go too far?
A painstakingly investigated exposé, Dark Wire reveals the true scale and stakes of this unprecedented operation through the agents and crooks who were there. This fly-on-the-wall thriller is a caper for our modern world, where no one can be sure who is listening in.
Backdoor access to Anom and a series of related investigations granted American, Australian, and European authorities a front-row seat to the underworld. Tens of thousands of criminals worldwide appeared in full view of the same agents they were trying to evade. International smugglers. Money launderers. Hitmen. A sprawling global economy as efficient and interconnected as the legal one. Officers watched drug shipments and murder plots unfold, making arrests without blowing their cover. But, as the FBI started to lose control of Anom, did the agency go too far?
A painstakingly investigated exposé, Dark Wire reveals the true scale and stakes of this unprecedented operation through the agents and crooks who were there. This fly-on-the-wall thriller is a caper for our modern world, where no one can be sure who is listening in.
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First published June 4, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 289 reviews
June 21, 2024
A book that starts off great, until you read the same sentence variation 50 times per chapter.
At the 1000th "but the criminals didn't know: the FBI was watching them all along!" , you would want to give up, but you've already gone too far. Thankfully, the final "critical" chapter is interesting to put your reading into perspective.
While i very well welcome the initiative and praise the investigative work behind it, I don't understand why most of the book is the way it is. It's 05% descriptive until the last chapter. At some point, you just wonder when it would end. There is just not enough details about what matters - consequences of international cooperation, the world-wide public opinion about privacy at the time these events occured. And by the time the author gets to them, you have either given up by lack of interest, or you've reached the end of the book.
A very interesting investigation of a story, but in the wrong format for me. The author shared a lot of the important bits on his Twitter, and does great job with his website - I'd rather advice anyone to spend their time on those than the book itself.
At the 1000th "but the criminals didn't know: the FBI was watching them all along!" , you would want to give up, but you've already gone too far. Thankfully, the final "critical" chapter is interesting to put your reading into perspective.
While i very well welcome the initiative and praise the investigative work behind it, I don't understand why most of the book is the way it is. It's 05% descriptive until the last chapter. At some point, you just wonder when it would end. There is just not enough details about what matters - consequences of international cooperation, the world-wide public opinion about privacy at the time these events occured. And by the time the author gets to them, you have either given up by lack of interest, or you've reached the end of the book.
A very interesting investigation of a story, but in the wrong format for me. The author shared a lot of the important bits on his Twitter, and does great job with his website - I'd rather advice anyone to spend their time on those than the book itself.
June 13, 2024
I gave it three stars on net galley. The story felt important, certainly entertaining. You've got the FBI acting in concert with other nations around the world to catch violent criminals. There's a deus ex machina. It's a true life techno thriller. Unfortunately, the writing lacks the thriller part. This thing reads like a math textbook. I felt nothing. If an author writes about a storm I expect to taste it, I need to smell it and certainly see it. Ominous; thunder cracks send sharp signals up the spine. Lightning flashing in the distance reveals grim rain. Shadows swirling in the dimly lit streets. Gotterdamerung upon us.
Joseph Cox got his hands on a story equivalent to a crossfire hurricane and proceeds to give temperature and wind speed in hourly intervals.
Joseph Cox got his hands on a story equivalent to a crossfire hurricane and proceeds to give temperature and wind speed in hourly intervals.
May 27, 2024
What An Unbelievable True Story
This book is one of the few books I have read that lived up to the hype on the cover page. While I usually read police procedurals, this book covers actual crime and law enforcement agencies worldwide who work to break up drug smuggling and money laundering activities by attacking their critical infrastructure, i.e., their secure communications.
The first chapter provides the story of an ex-USC football player, Owen Hanson. As he got into performance-enhancing drugs at USC in around 2004, he started to deal with them as well, with a list of clients that included professional athletes. Before long, Hanson moved on to selling recreational narcotics like cocaine and ecstasy. After the 2008 financial crisis, he was at the helm of his illegal gambling enterprise. This case was chosen because it introduces the use of an encrypted phone service to shield criminal activities from the authorities. The phones were modified Blackberries, with the camera, microphone, and GPS were removed. These phones only had texting available.
Subsequent chapters provide the details of numerous encrypted phone networks worldwide and their expansion of use globally. The measure of the effectiveness of encrypted phone use increases the probability of even larger shipments of illegal drugs. These aspects of the novel were eye-opening for me. I’ve seen news about how drug traffic was increasing but not how encrypted phone use facilitated this growth.
Then, the unbelievable occurs. A person fundamental to developing a successful encryption phone wanted to do something different. Before, all phones were based on modifying commercially available cell phones. He designed one from the ground up, providing text, voice, and camera capabilities. To help, he asked the FBI for funding in exchange for allowing the FBI to provide a module that would send all transmissions to the FBI. The question is, can the FBI spend money on developing an encryption phone for criminals? What the FBI could and couldn’t do and why were interesting. What foreign law enforcement agencies could join with the FBI at the start and when the sting progressed were also interesting.
The rest of the book was quite detailed on the operations of the drug dealers and smugglers as it was based on their texts, conversations, and videos. See how law enforcement affects criminal operations and how they adapt. I found it fascinating how steadfast the criminals were to these new encryption phones. This part of the book was the most interesting for me.
The remaining chapters provided the events of the international sting on which the critical infrastructure the drug dealers and smugglers relied was turned against them. These are the chapters that I enjoyed reading the most. If you want to read about a very successful international sting and insight into how drug dealers and smugglers work, this is a book to read. I recommend reading this book. I rate it with five stars.
The last chapter covers the announcement by the FBI and the mass arrests that followed. The authors report that two significant criminals were not arrested. The events in this book end around September 2023. I used the Internet to discover if their status had changed. I found that both were arrested in October 2003. I could not find any extradition or prosecution against them.
I received this novel's free prepublication e-book version through NetGalley from Public Affairs. My review is based solely on my own reading experience of this book. Thank you, Public Affairs, for the opportunity to read and review this novel early.
This book is one of the few books I have read that lived up to the hype on the cover page. While I usually read police procedurals, this book covers actual crime and law enforcement agencies worldwide who work to break up drug smuggling and money laundering activities by attacking their critical infrastructure, i.e., their secure communications.
The first chapter provides the story of an ex-USC football player, Owen Hanson. As he got into performance-enhancing drugs at USC in around 2004, he started to deal with them as well, with a list of clients that included professional athletes. Before long, Hanson moved on to selling recreational narcotics like cocaine and ecstasy. After the 2008 financial crisis, he was at the helm of his illegal gambling enterprise. This case was chosen because it introduces the use of an encrypted phone service to shield criminal activities from the authorities. The phones were modified Blackberries, with the camera, microphone, and GPS were removed. These phones only had texting available.
Subsequent chapters provide the details of numerous encrypted phone networks worldwide and their expansion of use globally. The measure of the effectiveness of encrypted phone use increases the probability of even larger shipments of illegal drugs. These aspects of the novel were eye-opening for me. I’ve seen news about how drug traffic was increasing but not how encrypted phone use facilitated this growth.
Then, the unbelievable occurs. A person fundamental to developing a successful encryption phone wanted to do something different. Before, all phones were based on modifying commercially available cell phones. He designed one from the ground up, providing text, voice, and camera capabilities. To help, he asked the FBI for funding in exchange for allowing the FBI to provide a module that would send all transmissions to the FBI. The question is, can the FBI spend money on developing an encryption phone for criminals? What the FBI could and couldn’t do and why were interesting. What foreign law enforcement agencies could join with the FBI at the start and when the sting progressed were also interesting.
The rest of the book was quite detailed on the operations of the drug dealers and smugglers as it was based on their texts, conversations, and videos. See how law enforcement affects criminal operations and how they adapt. I found it fascinating how steadfast the criminals were to these new encryption phones. This part of the book was the most interesting for me.
The remaining chapters provided the events of the international sting on which the critical infrastructure the drug dealers and smugglers relied was turned against them. These are the chapters that I enjoyed reading the most. If you want to read about a very successful international sting and insight into how drug dealers and smugglers work, this is a book to read. I recommend reading this book. I rate it with five stars.
The last chapter covers the announcement by the FBI and the mass arrests that followed. The authors report that two significant criminals were not arrested. The events in this book end around September 2023. I used the Internet to discover if their status had changed. I found that both were arrested in October 2003. I could not find any extradition or prosecution against them.
I received this novel's free prepublication e-book version through NetGalley from Public Affairs. My review is based solely on my own reading experience of this book. Thank you, Public Affairs, for the opportunity to read and review this novel early.
June 25, 2024
Interesting story, blandly told.
August 15, 2024
Fascinating story, could have been a great thriller but written like a dry diary.
August 25, 2024
This is a classic example of an author wanting to write a book about something that doesn't really have book length levels of detail and nuance. The result here, as always, is that the author pads the length. In this case, the author uses a combination of repetition and of inclusion of many facts which are only tangentially related and have negligible impact to the story being told.
The crux of the story that the FBI ran a messaging app for criminals is interesting, so the book is not without merit. It just needs a better editor or an author with ambitions more nearly matched to the material at hand.
The crux of the story that the FBI ran a messaging app for criminals is interesting, so the book is not without merit. It just needs a better editor or an author with ambitions more nearly matched to the material at hand.
October 23, 2024
2.5 stars. Skip.
Really disappointing. Interesting story and subject matter, but nothing more than that. Beginning and end were great. Middle 80% was a slog of police report type info dumps that had nothing to do with each other, that didn't bring a cohesive narrative arc to capture your attention. The interesting piece I kept thinking about is that the FBI didn't even come up with the idea. They were given it by someone they arrested. And in the end they took some drugs and bad guys off the market, but may have made the matter worse in the end.
Not to mention, the incessant reminders that "unbeknownst to the criminals, the feds were reading their messages the whole time." Yes. We got that from the cover page of the book. We know what we picked up to read. We are reminded with every page, every interaction, every conversation, that the FBI were in on it. How many times will we be bludgeoned with the same information said in different words?
This could've been a great short story, or podcast, or simply shorter book. The interesting part was how the FBI worked with other jurisdictions, the problems they faced scaling this operation, not to mention what it cost american tax payers... But we really aren't let know much of any of that, only in little snippets.
Really disappointing. Interesting story and subject matter, but nothing more than that. Beginning and end were great. Middle 80% was a slog of police report type info dumps that had nothing to do with each other, that didn't bring a cohesive narrative arc to capture your attention. The interesting piece I kept thinking about is that the FBI didn't even come up with the idea. They were given it by someone they arrested. And in the end they took some drugs and bad guys off the market, but may have made the matter worse in the end.
Not to mention, the incessant reminders that "unbeknownst to the criminals, the feds were reading their messages the whole time." Yes. We got that from the cover page of the book. We know what we picked up to read. We are reminded with every page, every interaction, every conversation, that the FBI were in on it. How many times will we be bludgeoned with the same information said in different words?
This could've been a great short story, or podcast, or simply shorter book. The interesting part was how the FBI worked with other jurisdictions, the problems they faced scaling this operation, not to mention what it cost american tax payers... But we really aren't let know much of any of that, only in little snippets.
August 14, 2024
I wanted to read this book following hearing an interview with the author on the radio. The process of listening to the interview was more stimulating than reading the book, unfortunately. As a criminal justice person, I’d gladly assign this as a required read for a course- but if you are looking for a true crime-related pleasure read, you will be disappointed.
This is akin to going through piles of police reports…
That being said, I also think this would make an amazing visual timeline presentation in a museum like the National Crime Museum in DC! The way that the FBI infiltrated a "legit business" working for an illegitimate audience is interesting and important- particularly when we are thinking about things like entrapment, warrant, search for seizure, in a legal sense.
The re-named criminal protagonist who carries Anon as a company, referred to here as Microsoft, is also a tragic criminal tale of how one's own networks can turn against you (even and especially as the marked leader). It was amazing to me that none of the criminal groups suspected a breach in the Anon phone company, before they did their own groups...when the phones were the one thing all the raids had in common.
If you don't mind digging through some dense, police report-ish writing, you can find a very interesting thread tracing how one company worked with the FBI in an attempted "organic growth model" that was supposed to stop...at some point!
Meh.
This is akin to going through piles of police reports…
That being said, I also think this would make an amazing visual timeline presentation in a museum like the National Crime Museum in DC! The way that the FBI infiltrated a "legit business" working for an illegitimate audience is interesting and important- particularly when we are thinking about things like entrapment, warrant, search for seizure, in a legal sense.
The re-named criminal protagonist who carries Anon as a company, referred to here as Microsoft, is also a tragic criminal tale of how one's own networks can turn against you (even and especially as the marked leader). It was amazing to me that none of the criminal groups suspected a breach in the Anon phone company, before they did their own groups...when the phones were the one thing all the raids had in common.
If you don't mind digging through some dense, police report-ish writing, you can find a very interesting thread tracing how one company worked with the FBI in an attempted "organic growth model" that was supposed to stop...at some point!
Meh.
January 14, 2025
Dark Wire tells fascinating story, but the writing style was a bit drab. With all of the direct quotes and jumping between different subjects, this felt more like a very long newspaper article than narrative nonfiction.
With that said, the multi-year, international sting operation was impressive and interesting enough that the book could get by on the inherent appeal of the story it was telling even if the writing style didn’t add much.
It’s also crazy to me that the FBI essentially ran this whole operation but never but never got to use it on targets inside the United States.
With that said, the multi-year, international sting operation was impressive and interesting enough that the book could get by on the inherent appeal of the story it was telling even if the writing style didn’t add much.
It’s also crazy to me that the FBI essentially ran this whole operation but never but never got to use it on targets inside the United States.
September 16, 2024
Absolutely incredible book. This whole damn thing doesn't sound real but it is. This is a must read if you are curious about the criminal underbelly and how government agencies infiltrated it with their own cellphones.
Read
September 10, 2024I love good investigative journalism and I work in the privacy space, so I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, they were not met. And, the more I sit with the book, the angrier I am. The author had really interesting source material and could have developed this so much more. Instead, there was a big focus on the text messages between the targets and the details of those various criminal enterprises. It got really bogged down in those details to the detriment of the overall narrative. This book needed a better editor for sure. Perhaps I was not the intended audience, since while I find criminal procedurals interesting enough, they also raise legal and ethical questions that were acknowledged here but not at all actually addressed.
I forced myself through this and I sort of wish I had just DNFed. I don't recommend this book. If you are interested in this particular subject matter, I bet there is a great long-form article out there that will do the trick just fine.
I forced myself through this and I sort of wish I had just DNFed. I don't recommend this book. If you are interested in this particular subject matter, I bet there is a great long-form article out there that will do the trick just fine.
August 11, 2024
Good start, then a Bataan Death March of absolute tedium
Good and interesting start to this book. As such, probably should have been a long form article.
But I don’t blame the author necessarily. ***Who in the world oversaw the editing of this book***? It’s like she told Cox to string out the last half into countless, repetitive and redundant stories. Just WOW bad.
Read the first half, and then google “what happened to Anom” and save five hours of your precious life. Carpe diem.
Good and interesting start to this book. As such, probably should have been a long form article.
But I don’t blame the author necessarily. ***Who in the world oversaw the editing of this book***? It’s like she told Cox to string out the last half into countless, repetitive and redundant stories. Just WOW bad.
Read the first half, and then google “what happened to Anom” and save five hours of your precious life. Carpe diem.
August 28, 2024
An amazing story about a group of FBI agents who create a startup business selling "secure phones" to criminals who use them to communicate securely with others. Only, the FBI can read all the messages, in conjunction with agents in countries around the world. Very well told, with some disturbing implications, and of course, though they bust a huge number of criminals, it's really on a dent in the market.
April 26, 2025
Here's something I never thought about before I read this book: How do drug dealers communicate securely over long distances? The FBI's San Diego office took over a specialty wireless provider that catered to organized crime groups. The provider offered phones with text-only capabilities (the company disabled voice calls on each phone) and remotely wiped all phones in a group on command. When the owner of the wireless provider started tipping off his clients, the FBI started its own wireless provider company and provided high-quality information related to drug busts, murder, kidnapping, and other crimes in the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, South Africa, and other countries. For some reason, the largest sting operation in history netted only low-level dealers in the United States.
The author refers to some people by their real names, some by fake names, and some by nicknames. One of the criminals most frequently mentioned went by the nickname Microsoft. (In English, this name doesn't really strike fear in the heart, but maybe it seems cooler in other languages?) Anyway, it was kind of amusing to read that Microsoft planned a murder, Microsoft asked around for hitman candidates, etc.
The author refers to some people by their real names, some by fake names, and some by nicknames. One of the criminals most frequently mentioned went by the nickname Microsoft. (In English, this name doesn't really strike fear in the heart, but maybe it seems cooler in other languages?) Anyway, it was kind of amusing to read that Microsoft planned a murder, Microsoft asked around for hitman candidates, etc.
March 5, 2025
Dark Wire details the unprecedented large-scale collection of encrypted data by the FBI, which essentially created its own encrypted message app to surveil suspected criminals. It's both a remarkable achievement of law enforcement as well as a frightening warning about how far governments are willing to go to spy on individuals, even with good intentions.
January 17, 2025
Oh my WOW.
This story is insane & everyone needs to read this. Honestly shocked that I did not know about this at all or see any of it in the news. Slightly terrifying the sheer volume of drugs that are moved around the world.
This story is insane & everyone needs to read this. Honestly shocked that I did not know about this at all or see any of it in the news. Slightly terrifying the sheer volume of drugs that are moved around the world.
July 14, 2024
I first heard about this book thanks to an article on Ars Technica. What I found strange was it was the time I heard anything about this. Given the timing (2020-21) of the bulk of the story though, it's not too much of a surprise. I had other things on my mind back then.
I've read a lot of computer history and cybercrime books. I find the topic fascinating. This book is really more about more traditional crime (drugs, guns, money laundering) with a technical aspect (encrypted phones). From a technical perspective I didn't enjoy this as much as other books, but it's still a fascinating story.
It poses a lot of issues as technology and specifically encryption techniques continue to evolve how do you balance our right to privacy against the needs to prevent crimes? I don't have any answers and this book doesn't attempt to answer that question. What it does it instead is to tell a fascinating story that seems like it's right out of a movie.
I think this could turn into a great documentary or possible a movie, but it's probably not flashy enough for the latter. Staring at computer screens reading messages is not exactly big screen cinema. Overall though I found this a great read.
I've read a lot of computer history and cybercrime books. I find the topic fascinating. This book is really more about more traditional crime (drugs, guns, money laundering) with a technical aspect (encrypted phones). From a technical perspective I didn't enjoy this as much as other books, but it's still a fascinating story.
It poses a lot of issues as technology and specifically encryption techniques continue to evolve how do you balance our right to privacy against the needs to prevent crimes? I don't have any answers and this book doesn't attempt to answer that question. What it does it instead is to tell a fascinating story that seems like it's right out of a movie.
I think this could turn into a great documentary or possible a movie, but it's probably not flashy enough for the latter. Staring at computer screens reading messages is not exactly big screen cinema. Overall though I found this a great read.
October 7, 2024
Loved this. Wonderfully written, full of intrigue, well researched and presented in a way that really gave a good view into the workings of ANOM. I'm sad it's over.
July 20, 2024
I was really excited for this book and I was just left disappointed. The book is structured more as a series of vignettes into specific events (crimes) and characters which are then tied together through signposting and narrative building from the author.
While I suspect this is highly representative of how the author through his primary sources was able to generate an understanding of this operation, I didn't read this book for a series of small stories of drug drops and meth labs. Admittedly, this book does frame itself as a true crime thriller and not a Harvard MBA business case, but I can't help but feel the latter would've been a much more worthwhile endeavor. The words spent on detailing random different industrial or agricultural goods that drugs were hid within becomes uninteresting after the 3rd time. If I wanted to learn about a meth lab I'd go watch Breaking Bad. It's a disservice to the authors research to spend so much time on what are really insubstantial aspects of the story.
Maybe its the fact that consulting has fried my brain, but while reading the book I couldn't help but think to myself that I wanted to know more about the unique logistics, bureaucracy and operational aspects. Give me some org charts, shipment data and markets share charts lol. I think the way the author changed his language and tone in the name of being a 'true crime thriller' meant that the substantive and unique parts of the story became harder to discern. For example, throughout the middle half of the book, while Anom is increasing market penetration through various means (new geographies, forced removal of competitors) we see several short stories of individual phone deals- and each one is describes with bombastic language as to its scale and volume. Anom is made to seem like a clear #2 in scale and prestige in many of these cases. What you don't realize until the end of the book, when the author throws out real numbers is that we are taking counts of phones in the hundreds, and by the end thousands, not tens or hundreds of thousands. But all that very important context of scale is lost. I am not saying the author needs to give me a loop of market sizing and competitive landscape PPT slides, but really not providing some clarity in the narrative to these sorts of things clouds the story and makes it unclear.
There were a few areas I really wish the book delved into further were. First, I wish the book provided a much more detailed discussion of the legal and ethical questions surrounding the program, and the legal loopholes and arrangements to navigate around them. While it attempts this in fits and starts, it is clear the author was out of depth here, and I wish they had dedicated more time and possibly cowrote with experts on these topics. Second, I thought the time spent at the beginning talking about the outshore software development labor was interesting. Possibly expanding further on the types of individuals who were actually working at the company Anom across the organization. Third, the individual who lead Anom and who was the only one involved in the relationship with the FBI, was somehow completely absent from the narrative. I felt like that was a very clear blindspot. Finally, I wish the book provided longer discussions of and painted a better picture of the encrypted phone industry as a whole. At the beginning of the book it does a good job of describing the nascent industry, but as Anom grew and the tech matured, the book did not pull the reader along in its understanding. Details like which communications were apps vs. physical devices, which were primarily criminal user bases vs. which were not, how did these companies manage their supply of physical devices (build their own or modifying existing brands devices).
On net, the operation itself carries the book to be relatively engaging. However when I finished, the only feeling I was left with was a longing for more substantive content and less true crime kitschyness.
While I suspect this is highly representative of how the author through his primary sources was able to generate an understanding of this operation, I didn't read this book for a series of small stories of drug drops and meth labs. Admittedly, this book does frame itself as a true crime thriller and not a Harvard MBA business case, but I can't help but feel the latter would've been a much more worthwhile endeavor. The words spent on detailing random different industrial or agricultural goods that drugs were hid within becomes uninteresting after the 3rd time. If I wanted to learn about a meth lab I'd go watch Breaking Bad. It's a disservice to the authors research to spend so much time on what are really insubstantial aspects of the story.
Maybe its the fact that consulting has fried my brain, but while reading the book I couldn't help but think to myself that I wanted to know more about the unique logistics, bureaucracy and operational aspects. Give me some org charts, shipment data and markets share charts lol. I think the way the author changed his language and tone in the name of being a 'true crime thriller' meant that the substantive and unique parts of the story became harder to discern. For example, throughout the middle half of the book, while Anom is increasing market penetration through various means (new geographies, forced removal of competitors) we see several short stories of individual phone deals- and each one is describes with bombastic language as to its scale and volume. Anom is made to seem like a clear #2 in scale and prestige in many of these cases. What you don't realize until the end of the book, when the author throws out real numbers is that we are taking counts of phones in the hundreds, and by the end thousands, not tens or hundreds of thousands. But all that very important context of scale is lost. I am not saying the author needs to give me a loop of market sizing and competitive landscape PPT slides, but really not providing some clarity in the narrative to these sorts of things clouds the story and makes it unclear.
There were a few areas I really wish the book delved into further were. First, I wish the book provided a much more detailed discussion of the legal and ethical questions surrounding the program, and the legal loopholes and arrangements to navigate around them. While it attempts this in fits and starts, it is clear the author was out of depth here, and I wish they had dedicated more time and possibly cowrote with experts on these topics. Second, I thought the time spent at the beginning talking about the outshore software development labor was interesting. Possibly expanding further on the types of individuals who were actually working at the company Anom across the organization. Third, the individual who lead Anom and who was the only one involved in the relationship with the FBI, was somehow completely absent from the narrative. I felt like that was a very clear blindspot. Finally, I wish the book provided longer discussions of and painted a better picture of the encrypted phone industry as a whole. At the beginning of the book it does a good job of describing the nascent industry, but as Anom grew and the tech matured, the book did not pull the reader along in its understanding. Details like which communications were apps vs. physical devices, which were primarily criminal user bases vs. which were not, how did these companies manage their supply of physical devices (build their own or modifying existing brands devices).
On net, the operation itself carries the book to be relatively engaging. However when I finished, the only feeling I was left with was a longing for more substantive content and less true crime kitschyness.
September 8, 2024
Review summary: An insightful read that becomes a little repetitive at times – this true crime book showcases the complexity and innovation law enforcement is using in the 21st century.
Rating: 3.5
I picked up Dark Wire for two reasons: I wanted to read a crime book as I’ve been missing the genre and it was recommended by a friend.
Dark Wire is a book about a secure communications app used by organised crime across the world that was actually run by law enforcement. On the surface, this sounds like the plot of the latest Hollywood blockbuster, and this drew me in, plus I recall some of the media reporting on this back in 2021.
I was unsure if I would enjoy or truly appreciate this book as I am not technically savvy, and this story is primarily about the use of technology and its exploitation to ‘trick’ criminals. However, from the beginning Cox does a good job explaining the technology in plain English (also an expectation as a technology journalist).
My overall thoughts on this book:
- This book feels like it is heavily skewed towards the US (and understandably due to the FBI’s mastermind role), however this subjectivity at times screams there are substantial sections of the story missing.
-- At the beginning of the book, we are essentially given the foundation and important context for how AN0M came about. However, we are introduced to ‘random’ Australian police officers who seem to play an important role but this isn’t explored. If anything, it feels like an important detail that isn’t given anything further – we’re just meant to accept and move on. I may be reading too much into it, but this goes deeper when we are introduced to the AFP’s Digital Surveillance Collection and members of their area, who based on the author’s commentary are key to AN0M and this operation. There is no mention of why the Australians don’t get a larger piece of the story, but this seems to take away from the meticulous detail and ‘true story’ nature of this book.
- The structure starts off like a timeline, with mini stories that at first appear to be somewhat related. Eventually, this builds to explain how and why AN0M came to be. I didn’t mind this at first, if anything the first quarter of the book I couldn’t put down, I wanted to know where this was going. Unfortunately the middle of the book (about a third) felt a little repetitive and the story seemed to flip between the FBI and criminals points of view in terms of what was happening in the storyline. I enjoyed the four acts however I think it could have been strengthened by calling out certain moments within the book, including why it is of important and why we were reading about it. Perhaps this is a deflection of journalistic style of letting the reader put 2 and 2 together, but it felt like an important line of commentary was missing. I would have enjoyed the book having an accompanying timeline, outlines of key organisation and perhaps some reference material for the reader. At times I wish I had made notes so I could recall links to earlier stories and people, but a lot of them made a one off appearance and at times it made me wonder why those things were selected to be included when it didn’t feel like they had as much purpose or impact as intended.
Overall, this is a really interesting book – a true crime story about what may have been the largest international job by law enforcement it showcases the size of the criminal world and efforts to dismantle. Cox has done a good job at being the first book about AN0M and will likely influence and initiate further books, particularly as it seems like the legal battle is only just beginning. This one needs to be on your ‘to read’ list if you enjoy true crime.
Rating: 3.5
I picked up Dark Wire for two reasons: I wanted to read a crime book as I’ve been missing the genre and it was recommended by a friend.
Dark Wire is a book about a secure communications app used by organised crime across the world that was actually run by law enforcement. On the surface, this sounds like the plot of the latest Hollywood blockbuster, and this drew me in, plus I recall some of the media reporting on this back in 2021.
I was unsure if I would enjoy or truly appreciate this book as I am not technically savvy, and this story is primarily about the use of technology and its exploitation to ‘trick’ criminals. However, from the beginning Cox does a good job explaining the technology in plain English (also an expectation as a technology journalist).
My overall thoughts on this book:
- This book feels like it is heavily skewed towards the US (and understandably due to the FBI’s mastermind role), however this subjectivity at times screams there are substantial sections of the story missing.
-- At the beginning of the book, we are essentially given the foundation and important context for how AN0M came about. However, we are introduced to ‘random’ Australian police officers who seem to play an important role but this isn’t explored. If anything, it feels like an important detail that isn’t given anything further – we’re just meant to accept and move on. I may be reading too much into it, but this goes deeper when we are introduced to the AFP’s Digital Surveillance Collection and members of their area, who based on the author’s commentary are key to AN0M and this operation. There is no mention of why the Australians don’t get a larger piece of the story, but this seems to take away from the meticulous detail and ‘true story’ nature of this book.
- The structure starts off like a timeline, with mini stories that at first appear to be somewhat related. Eventually, this builds to explain how and why AN0M came to be. I didn’t mind this at first, if anything the first quarter of the book I couldn’t put down, I wanted to know where this was going. Unfortunately the middle of the book (about a third) felt a little repetitive and the story seemed to flip between the FBI and criminals points of view in terms of what was happening in the storyline. I enjoyed the four acts however I think it could have been strengthened by calling out certain moments within the book, including why it is of important and why we were reading about it. Perhaps this is a deflection of journalistic style of letting the reader put 2 and 2 together, but it felt like an important line of commentary was missing. I would have enjoyed the book having an accompanying timeline, outlines of key organisation and perhaps some reference material for the reader. At times I wish I had made notes so I could recall links to earlier stories and people, but a lot of them made a one off appearance and at times it made me wonder why those things were selected to be included when it didn’t feel like they had as much purpose or impact as intended.
Overall, this is a really interesting book – a true crime story about what may have been the largest international job by law enforcement it showcases the size of the criminal world and efforts to dismantle. Cox has done a good job at being the first book about AN0M and will likely influence and initiate further books, particularly as it seems like the legal battle is only just beginning. This one needs to be on your ‘to read’ list if you enjoy true crime.
September 8, 2024
Even more interesting book after the most recent arrest of Pavel Durov (CEO of Telegram).
The most bonkers sting operation possibly of all time? Such an interesting story.
The most bonkers sting operation possibly of all time? Such an interesting story.
November 26, 2025
Honestly I picked up this book because it was plugged by it's author on the excellent 404 Media podcast, they're a small outfit doing great independent tech journalism and are well worth a look.
The book itself chronicles the inception, growth, and arc of the FBI's foray into the world of encrypted phones for criminals. It starts out small, and ends up being something like the Manhattan project of wiretaps. Without spoiling anything, despite it's journalistic style, it still manages to feel like crime thriller page-turner right up to the dénouement. Cox takes the reader through the story following a cast of FBI agents, criminals, international police, and various in-betweens that get swept up in the action, and several of these become very familiar by the end, their fates swinging wildly as events unfold. Even more shocking than the scale of the operation was how quietly it all happened, despite the press coverage at the time I honestly had no idea any of this had.
While the epilog does take a few moments to acknowledge the concerns raised by privacy advocates, the story itself is very much told from the perspective of law enforcement officers pursuing criminals, and criminals attempting to evade them. This is definitely the result of a multi-year journalistic effort, not a meditation on the ethics of surveillance, and generally cleaves to laying out the facts and chronology without extra commentary. It wasn't until I'd read the final section on sources that I realized which bits of the story involved Cox directly communicating with the various people it followed.
I had a blast reading this, the reality of it is still hard to wrap my head around. The only gripe I have is that a couple passages do seem to settle into the "cops reporting a litany of drugs / guns / cash / luxury goods seized" cadence, during which I generally glazed over. Still, I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in reading a thoroughly written account of an FBI operation I still can't quite believe happened - or if they're just generally curious about how criminals communicate in this digital era.
The book itself chronicles the inception, growth, and arc of the FBI's foray into the world of encrypted phones for criminals. It starts out small, and ends up being something like the Manhattan project of wiretaps. Without spoiling anything, despite it's journalistic style, it still manages to feel like crime thriller page-turner right up to the dénouement. Cox takes the reader through the story following a cast of FBI agents, criminals, international police, and various in-betweens that get swept up in the action, and several of these become very familiar by the end, their fates swinging wildly as events unfold. Even more shocking than the scale of the operation was how quietly it all happened, despite the press coverage at the time I honestly had no idea any of this had.
While the epilog does take a few moments to acknowledge the concerns raised by privacy advocates, the story itself is very much told from the perspective of law enforcement officers pursuing criminals, and criminals attempting to evade them. This is definitely the result of a multi-year journalistic effort, not a meditation on the ethics of surveillance, and generally cleaves to laying out the facts and chronology without extra commentary. It wasn't until I'd read the final section on sources that I realized which bits of the story involved Cox directly communicating with the various people it followed.
I had a blast reading this, the reality of it is still hard to wrap my head around. The only gripe I have is that a couple passages do seem to settle into the "cops reporting a litany of drugs / guns / cash / luxury goods seized" cadence, during which I generally glazed over. Still, I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in reading a thoroughly written account of an FBI operation I still can't quite believe happened - or if they're just generally curious about how criminals communicate in this digital era.
October 2, 2025
I’m glad the author mentioned the allies cracking the enigma machine during WW2 (RIP, Alan Turing, genius and tragic gay icon) because a few chapters in I was like… this reminds me of something… the intricacies of this situation are amazing. Scary and amazing. And all the edgelord reviewers saying this is poorly written must be buying gear off whatever encrypted app crooks are using these days. It’s a true crime story that encompasses, international government agencies, cryptocurrency, complex drug empires and fencing outfits, yet I—a dummy—had no trouble following along and yelling about it to anyone who’d listen. I’d like to see anyone saying “ehh it’s repetitive and boring” do a better job. So yeah, fascinating and also drugs should be legal because if Dark Wire proves anything concretely it’s that this ‘War on Drugs’ thing is an ongoing exercise in futility, but you know, I DID GENDER STUDIES AT UNIVERSITY.
March 29, 2025
There’s a really good story somewhere in here. As a long magazine piece, it probably would’ve been great.
But as a book, the narrative is just so poorly constructed. The first third of the book contains a bunch of false starts that keep you thinking “okay this is the story now”, and then it just jumps to some other characters/plot line. Which is a shame, because the sting - which is what this book is actually about - is a really compelling story! Told in the right way, this could’ve been really great! The author just butchered & quartered his subject and then just put all the pieces near each other and hit publish rather than actually trying to weave a continuous, narrative storyline.
But as a book, the narrative is just so poorly constructed. The first third of the book contains a bunch of false starts that keep you thinking “okay this is the story now”, and then it just jumps to some other characters/plot line. Which is a shame, because the sting - which is what this book is actually about - is a really compelling story! Told in the right way, this could’ve been really great! The author just butchered & quartered his subject and then just put all the pieces near each other and hit publish rather than actually trying to weave a continuous, narrative storyline.
September 20, 2024
I love this book. It slows and becomes repetitive in the middle, but well worth it for the way the author highlighted themes of organizational behavior, scaling tech, and variance in international tech legislation throughout his reporting. I wish discussions around privacy, state surveillance, individual rights, and the broader impact of this intervention wasn’t just an afterthought in the epilogue. Would’ve been more interesting to have those perspectives more deeply discussed throughout.
July 27, 2024
A fascinating look into one of the biggest surveillance operations ever. The book does a good job of showing the side of the law enforcement and the side of the criminals.
Besides an interesting story, it is also a good comment on the “war on drugs” and the extent of surveillance that is possible in today’s world. Definitely worth reading for an “insider” perspective on these topics.
Besides an interesting story, it is also a good comment on the “war on drugs” and the extent of surveillance that is possible in today’s world. Definitely worth reading for an “insider” perspective on these topics.
December 30, 2024
A well written and better researched account of the greatest snaring of international criminals ever. Some effort is made to describe the implications for the civil rights of law-abiding citizens, but the entire story could be retold (less robustly) from that vantage point. But the heroes are then added to count of villains, and that might be too much for the average reader.
January 20, 2025
I would really like to rate this 4* but I just didn't like the writing style. The book is written like a longread investigative journalism story - basically that's what it is. Reporting, not narrative. The subject matter though, that's solid gold. If this was a movie you'd dismiss it as "unbelievable plot, not possible, pure fantasy" but all of it is true and happened just a 2-4 years ago.
Another round of editing would have been good. Almost on every second page there's a line like "FBI was reading all of their messages", "the criminals didn't know that the authorities saw everything" etc. This really does not need to be repeated all the time.
Another round of editing would have been good. Almost on every second page there's a line like "FBI was reading all of their messages", "the criminals didn't know that the authorities saw everything" etc. This really does not need to be repeated all the time.
June 26, 2024
I can't imagine it's too surprising for someone who is both a computers professional and enthusiast, as well as an enjoyer of crime stories, but true crime books about computers always fascinate me.
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