Slashdot Mirror


NYT Quietly Pulls Article Blaming Encryption In Paris Attacks

HughPickens.com writes: Inside Sources reports that the NY Times has quietly pulled a story from its website alleging the attackers used encrypted technology. The original piece, which has since been removed, can be found on the Internet Archive. It stated, "The attackers are believed to have communicated using encryption technology, according to European officials who had been briefed on the investigation but were not authorized to speak publicly. It was not clear whether the encryption was part of widely used communications tools, like WhatsApp, which the authorities have a hard time monitoring, or something more elaborate. Intelligence officials have been pressing for more leeway to counter the growing use of encryption."

A link to the NY Times article now redirects readers to a separate, general article on the attacks, which does not contain the word "encrypt." The Times later posted a second article citing an anonymous "European counterterrorism official" who was quoted saying authorities' "working assumption is that these guys were very security aware," but clarified officials "offered no evidence."

3 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The hilarity it keeps growing. by Flavianoep · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is like watching a Hollywood spy movie where they're astounded at how the elite criminals are using Unix!

    Like... MacOS?

    --
    Linux is for people who don't mind RTFM.
  2. bet they spoke french damnit! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    how are we supposed to crack that?

  3. Re:The hilarity it keeps growing. by AK+Marc · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or, perhaps more likely, the erudite reporter merely salted their story for street creds.

    The reporter should have hashed it after salting.