ISIS fighters in Belgium have been told to use encryption for
communication to dodge police and intelligence agencies after Brussels
attacks using a famous encrypted messaging app - Telegram.
After the horrifying Brussels attacks, the terror group's
cyber-security asked the ISIS fighters in Belgium to use encryption for
communication and stay away from internet if not using encryption
softwares.
What is encryption and why it's a big deal?
Encryption is a process of taking a plain message which generates a key - a code with random characters, which further travels as a piece of numbers/code/characters/information, until decrypted. When it's decrypted, the code becomes the plain message again that was sent originally.In between it travels as a code or a series of random characters. As simple as that right?
It's a complex process of coding and decoding messages doing mathematical operations to unlock keys in order to read the locked messages which are encrypted. But aforementioned illustration is a simple flow of what encryption and decryption basically is.
Tor Networks, VPNs, they all make your internet impressions go through a tunnel. And not just one tunnel, it's a tunnel within a tunnel, within a tunnel. This tunneling of information helps in hiding your internet usage/data and makes it hard for intelligence agencies to decipher/crack/unlock the information passed through these networks like VPN - VIRTUAL PROXY NETWORK.
As the name suggests, it's a proxy network that hides your real internet address and creates a proxy internet address hiding your real identity over internet connections.
It might come as a surprise how techie ISIS is becoming these days but they also have Afaaq Electronic Foundation, dedicated to "raising security and technical awareness" making jihadists aware about cyber-security and related tools.
The AEF broadcasted the advice to ISIS fighters in English rather, not using local languages but English which clearly implies they want people to read such messages globally, further creating more panic and distress.
Encryption itself is not a bad thing. Privacy is much needed everywhere. The very concept of privacy is not limited to our homes or our personal lives but is a growing need over internet space as well. Much like personal internet space that is private.
Considering the fact how NSA (National Security Agency) of United States of America has been thought of snooping around people across the globe, internet privacy has been ridiculed massively as presented by Edward Snowden when he leaked massive information about NSA and it's processes.
ISIS and other terror groups have been using encryption and other such processes to render terror but this incident will clearly spark a rage out there as legislations around the world would go on crazy debates, trying to hinder internet privacy and make internet more tight and controlled.
This might leave internet as a place where media will be controlled and privacy will be shot down.
Just imagine how it would be, if a government decides to keep a check on your internet usage. The websites you visit, the chats you carry out, the messages you send, everything will be a part of surveillance.
Every move on internet will be recorded.
The encryption debate matters because for long people have fought to keep internet open and private at the same time, but in the name of cyber-security, legislations around the world have tried to take control over the internet which results in censorship and you can smell the oligarchy here because you have not 'SAY.'
What if nothing is a happenstance? Nothing beats a tragedy that thrills haa.
Because "the State will follow you, and the terrorists will escape."
indiatoday