--- begin forwarded text
Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2005 22:38:26 -0400 To: Philodox Clips List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "R.A. Hettinga" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Clips] "Clippre": Leaving a trail of tech Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-woside0802,0,6663269,print.story?coll=ny-top-headlines> Newsday.com: Leaving a trail of tech Cell phones and the encryption of files on computers are tools authorities now focus on in tracking terror BY MARK HARRINGTON STAFF CORRESPONDENT August 2, 2005 LONDON -- He may have skipped Britain on an ordinary rail ticket amid the country's highest level of security since World War II, but it was not long before authorities picked up his signal, literally. By the time they seized him in Rome on Friday, Hamdi Issac, also known as Osman Hussain -- one of the suspects in London's failed July 21 bombings -- had made a call to Saudi Arabia, scattered a trail across Europe and even tried to throw authorities off his track by changing the electronic chip in his cell phone, according to an Italian anti-terror chief yesterday. But even as authorities in London celebrated a series of technological successes in the complex probe of the city's terror attacks last month, they were asking for more powers. In a move reminiscent of the fast-track treatment received by the USA Patriot Act following the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, Parliament is expected to swiftly weigh a number of anti-terror measures, including legislation that would make it a crime for anyone to withhold access codes to computer files that have been encrypted. Sentences of up to 10 years in prison are reported to be on the table, though any such measure would have to wait until Parliament reconvenes in the fall. The call for stiffer anti-encryption laws comes as investigators have gained unprecedented insight into the movement and training of suspects through cell phones and computers. In a televised news briefing in Rome yesterday, Italian anti-terror chief Carlo De Stefano described in surprising detail the path of suspected bomber Issac as he entered Italy and traveled around the country before being captured by authorities over the weekend. "You always have this evolving technological struggle between counterterrorism forces and the terrorist," said Jeremy Binnie, an analyst with the London-based Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center, describing why authorities are pushing for tougher rules. The law "makes sense if authorities are trying to gather evidence and they think the information is crucial and can't get it otherwise." But Peter Neumann, an international anti-terrorism expert at King's College in London, wondered whether tougher laws would simply push increasingly sophisticated terrorists to means other than encrypted files to hide evidence. He suggested that Issac's apparent failure to understand the trail he was leaving behind with his cell phone use is relatively uncommon among generally more techno-savvy Islamic terrorists. One of the suspects in the July attacks here, he said, has acknowledged using Internet tutorials to learn the techniques of bomb-making. While a London Metropolitan Police spokeswoman declined to comment, Neumann said it is increasingly common for terrorists to plan attacks and outline techniques on Web pages that are set up and taken down in a matter of hours, before police can discover or trace them. "It's a very fluid system and very effective," he said. Encryption technology is commonly available and relatively easy to use, Neumann noted, but it is still considered sophisticated. "The big irony of these movements is that while they are very medieval in ideology, they are also very modern in employing technology," Neumann said. Still, legislation that would try to force users to unlock access codes may not prove particularly effective if it is enacted for Britain alone. "National legislation doesn't strike me as something very useful" unless the effort is undertaken across Europe, he said. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' _______________________________________________ Clips mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.philodox.com/mailman/listinfo/clips --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]