Paris Terrorists Used Burner Phones, Not Encryption, To Evade Detection (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader writes from an article on Ars Technica: New details of the Paris attacks carried out last November reveal that it was the consistent use of prepaid burner phones, not encryption, that helped keep the terrorists off the radar of the intelligence services. As an article in The New York Times reports: "the three teams in Paris were comparatively disciplined. They used only new phones that they would then discard, including several activated minutes before the attacks, or phones seized from their victims." The article goes on to give more details of how some phones were used only very briefly in the hours leading up to the attacks. "Everywhere they went, the attackers left behind their throwaway phones, including in Bobigny, at a villa rented in the name of Ibrahim Abdeslam. When the brigade charged with sweeping the location arrived, it found two unused cellphones still inside their boxes." At another location used by one of the terrorists, the police found dozens of unused burner phones "still in their wrappers." As The New York Times says, one of the most striking aspects of the phones is that not a single e-mail or online chat message from the attackers was found on them. But rather than trying to avoid discovery by using encryption -- which would in itself have drawn attention to their accounts -- they seem to have stopped using the internet as a communication channel altogether, and turned to standard cellular network calls on burner phones.

Comments

But if we don't spy on everyone 24/7/365

[WillAffleckUW]

But if we don't accept airport scanning which doesn't detect 98 percent of usable devices, and 24/7 information on every citizen which provides zero usable intel on anyone with a World War I level of training in spycraft, how can we all Live In Fear?

Do you want to let the terrorists win?

The terrorists want us to Live In Fear!

So we must all Live In Fear to protect ourselves with useless actions that are not helpful in any way!

Re:But if we don't spy on everyone 24/7/365

[WillAffleckUW]

It's not the money, it's where you spend it.

Humint works. Most tech is easily defeated. Interrogation using friendly police methods works. Most stuff you see on TV or in movies doesn't work.

But you're right about the not talking about it part. Their objective is to instill Fear in the population. The problem is that the politicians want to manipulate the media to make it appear they're doing something, even if most of what they're doing is just helping create more Fear.

You're at more risk from a teen driving a car, or second hand cigarette smoke.

Technology only works in other places and only when limited to the useful methods. The key vectors are known, and yet we do absolutely nothing about them.

Re:New rule

[Anonymous Coward]

that won't work and france knows it, they just want your data regardless. ordinary french citizens might still buy their phones and services in france and willingly cough-up their info, but you really think terrorists and crooks will? open borders and free travel in europe along with cooperative cellular networks across much of the continent means that the phone and prepaid sim you use in france need not be purchased in france.

Re:New rule

[PPH]

You now need to show government issued id

How fast does that data make it into the law enforcement system? Because if they all purchase cards hours before an attack and a flag doesn't pop up at that time, it's too late. Remember; these people are planning on blowing themselves up.

We may need a criminal background check done before authorizing a phone/SIM card sale.