The story of how the FBI secretly used an encrypted phone company to infiltrate one of the world's largest crime syndicates, revealing how the underworld has become a globalized economy in its own right--one that can't be policed without crossing complicated ethical boundaries.Written "in the manner of a good crime thriller" (The Wall Street Journal), the inside story of the largest law-enforcement sting operation ever, in which the FBI created its own tech start-up to wiretap the world

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 illicit global economy as efficient and interconnected as the legal one. Officers watched drug shipments and murder plots unfold, making arrests without blowing their cover.

Featuring a new epilogue with crucial updates to the case, Dark Wire reveals the true scale and stakes of this unprecedented operation through the agents and criminals who were there. This is a fly-on-the-wall thriller for the modern world, where no one can be sure who is watching.

Joseph Cox is an award-winning investigative journalist and has been the world's leading reporter on Anom, writing exclusive stories on it for Vice Media's Motherboard. He is a cofounder of 404 Media, a digital media company devoted to revealing hidden stories.