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ΛNØM, an App for Criminals

Introduction

This review describes ΛNØM, an app for criminals, and provides a brief analysis of ΛNØM from a product management perspective according to the Blackblot PMTK Methodology™.

 

The Underworld

Phantom Secure was a Canadian company that provided encrypted mobile phones, used primarily by top drug traffickers and other master criminals, according to the American Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).

The closure of Phantom Secure in 2018 left international criminals in need of an alternative system for secure communication.

Around the same time, the FBI branch in San Diego, CA, was about to prosecute an individual developing secure communications for criminal networks.

In exchange for a reduced sentence, the individual offered to develop for the FBI a secure messaging application, later named ΛNØM, and distribute it to criminals.

ΛNØM was installed on modified Google Pixel 4a smartphones, which ran a mysterious operating system named ArcaneOS that lacked SMS, email, call, or GPS services. Nothing was supposedly traceable or trackable.

However, a copy of all text messages, contacts, images, and videos sent by criminals on ΛNØM would be silently forwarded to the FBI as well.

ΛNØM phones, priced at US$2,000 per device plus a $2,100 user fee every six months, were a tremendous commercial success among criminal networks. A total of 11,800 ΛNØM phones were sold to individuals in 90 countries.

The FBI's revenue from the sale of ΛNØM phones is estimated at US$100mil.

ΛNØM offered a unique opportunity to the inner workings of the international criminal underworld, on how organized crime operates, closes deals, and conspires on everything from narcotics and guns to cryptocurrencies.

After a two-year sting operation, in June 2021, multiple law enforcement agencies worldwide swooped in and arrested a total of over 800 people in 16 countries.

 

Applying PMTK to ΛNØM

The principles of product management, as outlined in the Blackblot PMTK Methodology™, are universal to any goods and services in any industry and market.

Accordingly, it is relatively straightforward to analyze many product management and product marketing aspects of ΛNØM using PMTK terminology.

Here are some examples.

From the user's perspective, the Market Problem is that communication is required to effectively operate a criminal supply chain. Unhindered access to this communication exposes members of a criminal conspiracy to apprehension by law enforcement.

The Solution to the market problem is a private means of communication that is not accessible to third parties.

Phantom Secure's phone and ΛNØM are examples of products that represent the solution. Both are based on encrypted messaging via cellular networks.

This market problem presents a worthy Market Opportunity.

The market problem is Lucrative because criminals have tax-free money and are eager to pay to have their market problem solved.

The market problem is Lasting because criminality among humans is ageless and will not disappear any time soon.

The market problem is Sizable and evidently significant with over 10,000 ΛNØM phones sold.

ΛNØM was also a great success from a product marketing perspective.

The product distribution was facilitated by the FBI, which cultivated criminal influencers that unwittingly promoted ΛNØM phones to other criminals.

ΛNØM phones were cleverly marketed by the FBI to criminal networks as “designed by criminals for criminals”. The enticement was highly successful.

The Product Unit is an ΛNØM phone and phone plan.

The Target Market is individual criminals and criminal organizations. Sort of a B2C and B2C engagement.

Market/Customer Segmentation is not required since the Overall Market is the Target Market.

Market/Product Segmentation is a Single Segment, where one market segment (in this case, the entire market) is served with one product.

The ΛNØM name is the Brand and its graphic symbol, with brand values being privacy, security, confidentiality, and reliability.

Anonymity is likely not a brand value as the ΛNØM phone was registered and identified with one individual only.

The ΛNØM phones value and quality factors that help obtain a state of Superior Perceived Value can be construed from how ΛNØM was marketed to criminals:

  • The Promise of Corporate Quality is Trustworthiness because criminals supposedly created ΛNØM for criminals.
  • The Promise of Product Quality is Security (secure communication) which is the primary function of ΛNØM.
  • The Resultant Value Proposition of the ΛNØM phone, the product's primary and relevant benefit to the customer, is secure communications.
  • The Relative Value Proposition of the ΛNØM phone, the product's internal benefits and cost ratio, is probably More features for the same TCO.
  • The Unique Selling Proposition of the ΛNØM phone is Privacy.

 

Summary

The ΛNØM sting operation was a spectacular success to law enforcement and a massive undertaking with more than 9,000 police officers across 18 countries involved.

It struck a significant blow to organized criminal gangs worldwide.

The ΛNØM app and phone themselves were brilliant products using the most advanced cryptography and communication protocols.

The engineering of ΛNØM was nothing short of impressive. Equally skilled were the marketing and promotions supporting ΛNØM.

This review demonstrated that PMTK's product management principles are universal, even when it comes to an app for criminals.

Case studies and examples similar to this story are part of the Blackblot Strategic Product Management™ training program.