Exclu was an encrypted messaging app that was shut down after a series of international raids in February 2023.

Service

Exclu offered licences for three or six months, for €500 and €900 respectively.

History

In 2019 German police raided

CyberBunker CyberBunker was an Internet service provider located in the Netherlands and Germany that, according to its website, "hosted services to any website except child pornography and anything related to terrorism". The company first operated in a forme ...

, which led to them obtaining data needed to decrypt the Exclu services. Data was shared with other police forces. On 3 February 2023 simultaneous raids took place on properties in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. 48 people were arrested, including administrators, developers and users of Exclu. Dutch police said that arrests were based on two distinct operations. The first, called 26Sambar, started in September 2020 and targeted owners and managers of Exclu. They were suspected of facilitating criminals. The second, called 26Lytham, began in late April 2022. This specifically targeted users suspected of being involved in organised crime. In February 2023 German police announced that George Mitchell was one of five major suspects behind the network.

References

{{reflist Anonymity networks Cyberspace Dark web Defunct darknet markets Distributed computing architecture Law enforcement operations Organized crime in Europe 2023 disestablishments