Necessity being the mother of invention, Morris sets out to create a secret device that can track every keystroke from a cyber crook's computer.
It then became a matter of finding the technology that was available to time and piecing it together in such a way that we can get in and resolve.
Man, I made it, I'm in.
Morris and a team of FBI engineers invent a high-tech, high-speed computer-tracking device that they proudly call the "magic box".
The complex inner workings of the magic box are so secretive that Morris isn't allowed to reveal how it works.
I'm really not at liberty to go farther into the, that technology. It might jeopardize other investigations.
But he did agree to tell us how it was used for the very first time to catch the Phonemasters.
First, the FBI gets a tip that someone is offering to sell the phone records of several celebrities. The suspect with the stolen goods is this man, Calvin Cantrell.
FBI agents set up a stakeout inside a store near Cantrell's house in Grand Prairie, Texas.
This building across the street is a major substation for the telephone company and a perfect place for Cantrell to steal classified information.
This particular building, Calvin, when he was hacking, used to dive into that dumpster over there and actually pull information out of. He also actually hacked into the telephone switch contained in this building. So he actually, at one-point time, owned the computer that's inside that building. He could've changed it, sent wherever he wanted to.
Using a wiretap and the magic box, agents record all of Cantrell's phone calls and every keystroke he makes on his computer.
Our magic box, if you will, would intercept everything that, that he did across his computer.
Incredibly, the FBI discovers that Calvin Cantrell is not just any cyber criminal, but one of the three leaders of the Phonemasters.
With the magic box, we're able to see all the things that they are sending back and forth each other, ah, all the computer systems that Calvin was hacking into.
The suspects are unaware that the FBI is onto them. In fact, during one secretly recorded phone conversation, they even joked about the possibility of being investigated.
What the hell happened?
That was the FBI tapping in.
Yeah.
Was it really?
You're going to jail.
We're all going to jail.
For a very long time.
Finally after two months of constant surveillance, the FBI has all the evidence it needs to arrest the Phonemasters.
working: the manner of functioning or operating : operation― usually used in plural
at liberty: free, authorized
stakeout: police surveillance