The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee is using the terrorist attack in Brussels to remind Americans that encryption technology may have played a role, even if no one is sure what that role happened to be.
“In the wake of these attacks, we here in the U.S. and our allies across Europe must be on alert for possible copy-cat attackers who activate in the wake of these bombings,” ranking Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in a statement.
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“We do not know yet what role, if any, encrypted communications played in these attacks — but we can be sure that terrorists will continue to use what they perceive to be the most secure means to plot their attacks,” he said.
Schiff suggested that recent terrorist attacks in Paris and California were further evidence of the threat posed by terrorists using secure communication, though those examples do not necessarily support the encryption narrative. While terrorists in San Bernardino, Calif., did use an encryption-enabled Apple iPhone, authorities have not said it was necessarily used in relation to the attack.
Documents released by investigators in Paris over the weekend suggested terrorists there used disposable phones rather than encryption-enabled smartphones. However, the report noted that officials had been unable to locate communication that took place between perpetrators of the attack, prompting them “to conclude that the group used encryption.”
Security researcher Christopher Soghoian poked fun at that statement on Twitter, noting it “makes just as much … sense if you replace ‘encryption’ with ‘magic.'”
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The NYT story on the Paris attackers makes just as much (if not more) sense if you replace “encryption” with “magic” pic.twitter.com/1ATUU1fzRM
— Christopher Soghoian (@csoghoian) March 20, 2016
Schiff’s statement concluded with a call to build intelligence and law enforcement capabilities more broadly. “We must continue to build the capacity of our partners and allies to improve their intelligence and law enforcement capabilities and track terrorists as they travel, and we must go after terrorist safe havens whether in Iraq, Syria, or places like Libya,” he added.
