The team behind the Telegram secure
messaging app on Wednesday reported that it had shut down 78 channels,
across 12 languages, used by ISIS and its supporters. However, the app's
privately used channels weren't affected by the sweep.
After
the attacks on Paris last weekend, for which ISIS has claimed
responsibility, the Telegram team learned via reports sent to
abuse@telegram.org that the terrorist group had been communicating
openly on its secure messaging platform.
Telegram
has emphasized that it has no intention of blocking free speech,
including opinions that are critical of a government entity.
"While
we do block terrorist (e.g. ISIS-related) bots and channels, we will
not block anybody who peacefully expresses alternative opinions," reads a
post on the Telegram channel.
The Conundrum
In
addition to blocking communications threatening public safety, Telegram
will block pornography from distribution in countries where such
content is illegal.
Those
moves will keep off some regulatory heat, but monitoring activities on
public broadcast and shutting down inappropriate or illegal
communications "flies in the face" of the level of privacy the company
has promoted to users, observed Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.
"Plus,
there's nothing to keep users from creating new channels, resulting in a
never ending cat-and-mouse game for service providers," he told the
E-Commerce Times. "Frankly, I'm not sure there is any practical way for
messaging firms to ensure privacy features aren't being abused."
Privacy vs. Public Security
As long as men and women walk the earth, there will be bad actors. Telegram has been tiptoeing along the line separating privacy and security, because it isn't always possible to have the two overlap comfortably, as evidenced by ISIS' abuse of the platform.
That
said, Telegram's response to ISIS provides a model for other companies
that offer secure communications, suggested Scott Borg, director and
chief economist for the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit.
That
model entails keeping communications secure and encrypted to preserve
the right to privacy, said Borg. However, it also entails stopping
obvious bad actors from using the system, which can prevent abuse of the
right to privacy.
"Organizations
like ISIS will always be able to communicate in secure, encrypted
ways," Borg told the E-Commerce Times, "but preventing them from using
the more convenient applications that facilitate secure communications
will slow down their communications, increase their operating costs, and
make it much more likely that they will slip up."
One
of the most effective strategies for dealing with terrorists is finding
ways and means to increase their operating costs, he pointed out.
"All
these organizations have limited resources," Borg said. "Even if they
have a lot of money, they still have a limited number of agents with
limited skills and limited time."
Whenever terrorists are hit in their pockets, their ability to accomplish their goals is diminished, he maintained.
"Measures
such as those by Telegram could be a significant drain on the
operational resources of a terrorist organization," noted Borg.
"Anything that impedes the ability of a group like ISIS to operate, even
if it only does so to a limited degree, can result in fewer lives being
lost."
Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/82777.html
