Cosa Nostra prefers encrypted platform Number 1BC
The Number 1BC platform gained popularity following the law enforcement crackdown on SkyECC. Italy’s top anti-mafia prosecutor told OCCRP: “IT experts ensure that organized crime’s digital footprint remains concealed from investigators.”
For generations, mafia bosses relied on "pizzini"—handwritten notes containing orders and coded instructions—to run their criminal empires. The underworld has meanwhile embraced a more sophisticated method: encrypted mobile phones and now the Sicilian Cosa Nostra caught up.
That was confirmed last week when Italian authorities arrested nearly 180 suspected members of Cosa Nostra, the notorious Sicilian crime syndicate, in the largest crackdown on the group in decades. Among those detained were high-profile bosses who used the communications platform known as Number 1BC to coordinate drug trafficking, money laundering, and extortion without the need for in-person meetings.
Organized crime groups worldwide used several encrypted systems before, but authorities managed to crack some of them, which led to thousands of arrests. So they switched to Number 1BC.
As much as the Cosa Nostra and other fraternities needed assassins, enforcers, accountants, or lawyers before, now the desired mafia recruit is the IT professional to sanitize and secure their devices.
“Criminal networks obsessively seek to safeguard their communications,” Italy’s top anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Melillo told OCCRP. “For them, encrypted platforms provide a level of impunity.”
“These individuals are now integral to organized crime,” Melillo added. “They ensure that the mafia’s digital footprint remains hidden from investigators.”
The reliance on encrypted technology underscores how Cosa Nostra, though significantly weakened by decades of arrests, has adapted to modern law enforcement tactics.
The case of Giuseppe Auteri, a fugitive mafia boss, exemplifies the effectiveness of these tools. As reported by PalermoToday Dossier, Number 1BC devices enabled Auteri to evade capture for two years while hiding in the heart of Palermo, Sicily’s capital.
The encrypted phone provider has been linked to multiple crime groups, including the Camorra, the ’Ndrangheta, and Albanian organized crime syndicates.
At least four major drug trafficking investigations have revealed that high-level mobsters refer to Number 1BC as their preferred method of communication.
Previous providers used by organized crime—EncroChat, Sky ECC, and Anom—failed to deliver the security they promised.
Anom was secretly operated by the FBI, while EncroChat and Sky ECC were compromised by European authorities in 2020 and 2021. The downfall of these services created a vacuum, which Number 1BC has filled.
Registered in Malta in 2016, the company reported a turnover of more than €1.2 million in its last available financial statement. Its current owner is listed as U.S. businessman Jack David Burstein, but an investigation by Italian media outlets IrpiMedia and Lavialibera suggests deeper connections to a German entity founded in 2013.
That company was linked to Roy Livings, a convicted English drug trafficker, and Eli Gampel, a former leader of the Jewish community in Halle, Germany, convicted of money laundering.
Despite multiple ongoing investigations, both the Malta-based and German-based firms remain operational. Public records indicate that Number 1BC has an extensive network of distributors worldwide, but its origins remain murky. An analysis of its website suggests it was active three years before the German entity was officially registered.
While the mafia’s digital transformation has made it harder for authorities to monitor their activities, law enforcement agencies are determined to close the gap. The latest arrests mark a significant victory, but experts warn that as criminals adopt more advanced technology, police will need to innovate just as quickly to stay ahead.
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