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London Terrorist Used WhatsApp, UK Calls For Backdoors (yahoo.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the encryption-in-England dept.

Wednesday 52-year-old Khalid Masood "drove a rented SUV into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before smashing it into Parliament's gates and rushing onto the grounds, where he fatally stabbed a policeman and was shot by other officers," writes the Associated Press. An anonymous reader quotes their new report: Westminster Bridge attacker Khalid Masood sent a WhatsApp message that cannot be accessed because it was encrypted by the popular messaging service, a top British security official said Sunday. British press reports suggest Masood used the messaging service owned by Facebook just minutes before the Wednesday rampage that left three pedestrians and one police officer dead and dozens more wounded.... Home Secretary Amber Rudd used appearances on BBC and Sky News to urge WhatsApp and other encrypted services to make their platforms accessible to intelligence services and police trying to carrying out lawful eavesdropping. "We need to make sure that organizations like WhatsApp -- and there are plenty of others like that -- don't provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other," she said...

Rudd also urged technology companies to do a better job at preventing the publication of material that promotes extremism. She plans to meet with firms Thursday about setting up an industry board that would take steps to make the web less useful to extremists.

3 of 360 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Scapegoating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    > made an extremist while in her Majesty's pleasure

    There's your problem right there. If you force muslim men to pleasure a 90 year old monarch, when their natural mate is a goat, of course they'll get uppity like this Mohamed did.

  2. Private speech should be considered a human right by complete+loony · · Score: 3, Funny

    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" ... privately.

    --
    09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
  3. Re:Worse than you think! by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Funny

    SUVs should be banned

    If we arrest everyone driving SUVs, there'll be about 85% fewer twats on the road (gotta arrest BMW drivers too to get to 95%).

    Sorry what was the problem?

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    SJW n. One who posts facts.