Prompt Cast
The Role of Encryption in ISIS Communication and Recruitment
TLDR ISIS recruits are instructed to use encrypted technology made by non-Western companies and open source software, challenging the assumption that terrorists rely on Western technology. However, ISIS is more concerned with teaching its operatives to use technology correctly than worrying about encryption, as they have made fundamental mistakes that have compromised their operations.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Rukmini Kalimaki and Runa Sandvik discuss their roles at the New York Times and Rukmini's experience with listening in on encrypted chat conversations used by ISIS.
03:32
Witnesses saw one of the suicide bombers in the Bataclan using a laptop, which led to speculation that ISIS was using encrypted chat conversations and TrueCrypt to communicate, and an interrogation record from a French citizen who joined ISIS confirmed this.
07:51
ISIS recruits are instructed to use encrypted technology made by non-Western companies, such as a Turkish version of Dropbox called dosea.co, and open source software like TrueCrypt, which challenges the assumption that terrorists rely on Western technology and undermines the encryption versus terrorism debate.
11:24
ISIS is more concerned with teaching its operatives to use technology correctly than worrying about encryption, as they have made fundamental mistakes such as accidentally including geolocation on tweets and forgetting passwords, which has led to their locations being bombed and their operations being compromised.
15:11
ISIS is recruiting computer experts to carry out larger, more violent attacks, but finding candidates who fit the bill is becoming more difficult, so they have to take risks, such as recruiting someone like Retta Hame, an IT professional who wanted to fight in Syria but was sent back to Paris to carry out an attack because of his French passport and appearance.
18:56
Understanding terrorists is important, but terrorists want to seem like people with their minds made up, so finding someone like Rada Hame, who went through the steps of carrying out a terrible act but was human and confused, is a terrifying idea to ISIS.
22:53
The host calls Adam West to find out the meaning behind his tweet, and it turns out to be a joke about vampires and someone being so dumb that they don't know if grapes or garlic ward off vampires.
26:58
Adam West, the actor who played Batman, talks about how embracing the joke of his role as Batman saved his career.
Categories:
Technology
Society & Culture
