‘TELEGRAM has become known as a preferred means of communication for the Sunni terror group ISIS and was used by the ISIS cell that plotted the Paris terror attacks in November.”

CNN News Report

Moulay Hassan Daki (Maroc), Frédéric Van Leeuw (Belgium), François Molins (France) et Javier Zaragoza (Spain)

Prosecutors from the EU Anti-Terrorism Group4 have met this week in Paris to discuss issues raised by encrypted communication systems such as ‘TELEGRAM’. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

They issued a strong warning:

“Investigators need Access to Encrypted Communications. This is not an issue that a single state can solve. It is a Global Issue.”

According to François Molins, ISIS uses TELEGRAM to instruct young people living in France to commit acts of terrorism. He mentioned the fact that fifteen very young persons were arrested during the summer after receiving messages from Rachid Kassim, a French Citizen believed to be currently living in Iraq-Syria.

In late August, France and Germany asked  the EU Commission to work out a Legal Framework to regulate encrypted Telecommunications.

About TELEGRAM

Telegram is a cloud-based instant messaging service. Telegram clients exist for both mobile (Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Ubuntu Touch) and desktop systems (Windows, OS X, Linux). Users can send messages and exchange photos, videos, stickers and files of any type. Telegram also provides optional end-to-end-encrypted messaging, which has been criticized by security experts because of its custom nature.

Telegram is supported by the Russian-born entrepreneur Pavel Durov, who is now a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis, travelling the world in self-imposed exile. Its client-side code is open-source software, whereas its server-side code is closed-sourced and proprietary. The service also provides APIs to independent developers. [WIKIPEDIA]

Blast from the Past

The use of cryptography to ensure privacy is of course a fundamental right. The issue has been debated in the US during the 90’s.  Here is a piece written many years ago: Privacy Underpins Human Dignity 

Today, this issue is more complex than ever. A recent investigation showed that the use of just one project — XKeyscore — by the German Agency BND violates dozens of Laws and the Constitution.

REFERENCES

Le problème du cryptage des communications au coeur de la lutte antiterroriste

Privacy Underpins Human Dignity : Human rights, privacy and correspondence in an age of information technology

Secret Report: German Federal Intelligence Service BND Violates Laws And Constitution By The Dozen

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EUROPE Anti-Terrorism Group-4: Investigators Need Access to Encrypted Communications