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ISIS encrypted communications with Paris attackers
And So it Starts [arstechnica.com]. ArsTechnica is carrying a story where they quote from a New York Times [nytimes.com] story the speculation of an un-named French Official:
European officials said they believed the Paris attackers had used some kind of encrypted communication, but offered no evidence. “The working assumption is that these guys were very security aware, and they assumed they would be under some level of observation, and acted accordingly,” said a senior European counterterrorism official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential information.
Ars points out that there is still no evidence of encryption used, and in any event, there were lots of digital tracks (meta data) left by these terrorists with communication between Belgium and Syria.
The use of encrypted communications by ISIS has prompted various former intelligence officials and media analysts to blame NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden for tipping off terrorist organizations to intelligence agencies' surveillance capabilities and for their "going dark" with their communications. Former CIA Director James Woolsey said in multiple interviews that former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden "has blood on his hands".
Ars also mentions that encryption has been used for decades by terrorist organizations
It's been known for some time that terror organizations use cryptography of various sorts. Since the late 1990s, Al Qaeda has used various forms of encryption to hide files on websites for dissemination, as well as using encrypted or obfuscated files carried on CDs or USB drives by couriers.
The story points out that placing of blame on Snowden for terrorists using encryption seems "outlandish" but they jump right in and do it anyway, listing a wide variety of software known or suspected to be used for this purpose, including WhatsApp, Signal, RedPhone, Wickr, and Telegram.
Ars suggests it is just such an incident as this that governments have been waiting for to impose some regulations on encryption. Of course a lot of people have been suggesting this would happen eventually.
Will there be a push to outlaw any form of encryption of private communication? What percentage of people will rally around that idea?
