Turkey identifies over 92,000 ByLock users: Minister

ANKARA 

Turkey has so far identified over 92,000 users of ByLock, an encrypted smartphone app used by members of FETÖ, the country’s interior minister said on Dec. 11.

“We have identified 92,702 individual users and 215,092 accounts in the encrypted communication program ByLock,” Süleyman Soylu said at the 5th International Cybercrimes Workshop in the capital Ankara.

“Somehow, they [FETÖ] have included everyone they communicate with in the system. As I said, they have not only sent viruses to computers, but reinforced real attacks to cyber-attacks by having people like viruses work on the computers,” Soylu also said.

ByLock is an encrypted mobile phone application used by FETÖ members to communicate during and after the 2016 failed coup attempt.

FETÖ is widely believed to have orchestrated the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

Soylu also recalled that Turkey has been the sponsor country for the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence since 2015.

He said nearly 54,374 cybercrimes were committed in Turkey in 2018, while 18,330 people were detained and went through judicial proceedings.

“This figure includes child sexual abuse, exploitation of payment systems and infringement of information systems and phishing,” he added.