Encrypted communication ‘biggest problem’ in tackling terrorism, Europol warns

Summary:The European agency says tracking and monitoring terrorist suspects is increasingly difficult in a world where encryption is becoming commonplace.

Monitoring threats to national security is becoming increasingly difficult as tech companies ramp up encryption efforts, Europol has warned.

The European Police Office's Director, Rob Wainwright, says sophisticated, encrypted online communication and hidden areas of the Internet -- known as the Dark web -- are creating problems in tracking and monitoring terrorist suspects.

Speaking to the BBC as part of 5 Live Investigates, the Europol executive said sophisticated online communication is "the biggest problem" law enforcement officers face in this duty.

"It's become perhaps the biggest problem for the police and the security service authorities in dealing with the threats from terrorism," Wainwright told the news agency. "It's changed the very nature of counter-terrorist work from one that has been traditionally reliant on having good monitoring capability of communications to one that essentially doesn't provide that anymore."

Europol says encrypted communications is often central to terrorist operations. As an example, Rodrigo Bijou from data solutions provider The Data Guild told attendees at Kaspersky's Annual Security Summit in February that groups such as ISIS and Al Qaeda are using online forums to spread propaganda, and are both developing their own communication tools and using encrypted offerings from the marketplace to communicate and organize activities.

In addition, the director says terrorists are using the Dark web more frequently in order to keep their activities away from spying eyes.

As a result, Wainwright believes technology companies should consider the effect encryption has on law enforcement.

While companies including Apple are using end-to-end encryption protocols to secure consumer devices and Google declared to do the same through the Android operating system -- although later had to backtrack because of old device compatibility issues -- the development of heavily encrypted instant messaging applications is also a cause for concern, according to Wainwright.

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Encrypted communication 'biggest problem' in tackling terrorism, Europol warns