Top NYPD Official: 'Technology Is Becoming A Big Enabler' In Terrorists Secretly Planning Attacks
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A top NYPD official said the reason why terror groups like ISIS are able to plan out deadly attacks without western authorities not knowing about them is due to encrypted technology.
Speaking to Scott Pelley on the CBS Evening News Tuesday following the Brussels terror attacks that left 34 dead and over 200 wounded, John Miller, the NYPD's deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, said terrorists are able to "go dark" thanks to communication systems that can't be cracked.
"I think the real point here is we're looking at we call 'going dark,' whether it's the app Telegram … which was all encrypted, or the app Wickr, which comes out of San Francisco, not Russia, that is all encrypted," Miller said. "We're seeing not just iPhones that can't be cracked, but entire communication systems that are designed to be impenetrable, and we're seeing those become the primary tools of terrorists. So when you ask a question like 'How could they miss this?' technology is becoming a big enabler."
Encryption technology has come to the forefront in the fight against terrorism as companies weigh privacy issues of users. CBS News reports ISIS uses the Telegram app to send private messages to coordinate attacks. Apple has said they will not crack the iPhone of San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook so the government can look at his private messages.
Miller said ISIS, who claimed responsibility for the Brussels attacks, used "rudimentary tactics" in bombing an airport and metro station.
"We're talking about fairly large bombs when you look at the damage and assess the casualties," Miller told CBS News. "But basically terrorism as we see it here with explosives, or as we saw in Paris explosives with active shooters, is low-tech, low-cost, but extraordinarily high-impact venture."
Miller also warned that "ISIS is already here."
"As ISIS has developed as an organization, what we have is inspired attacks – they're basically advertising through social media to call on people to attack here. We've seen arrests in those cases," Miller explained. "Enabled attacks, where they've actually chosen targets and spoken to people directly over closed social media channels where they've said, 'Here's the target, go do it.' What we haven't seen is directed attacks. That's what we saw in Paris, that's what we just saw in Brussels, and that's what we have to be prepared for, obviously."
The NYPD has fully deployed all of its emergency commands due to the Brussels attacks.
