Grenades and assault rifles have long been the tools of death and destruction for terrorists. But killing alone does not allow terrorists to truly gauge the fallout after an attack, and that is precisely why a new weapon, one of deadly intelligence capabilities, was employed in a recent attack: the Blackberry.

Among the standard fare toted by the terrorists who staged attacks in India last week was found a stockpile of RIM Blackberry smart phones, according to the Courier Mail. Though it would seem obvious the terrorists used the Blackberrys to communicate with one another, they used the handsets in a much greater capacity.

Once military and police forces cut communications to the two hotels targeted by the terrorists, the terrorists holed up in each location and used Blackberrys to scour international internet news to monitor the movements of militant forces. The terrorists also used the smart phones to observe the reactions of the international community to the attacks.

Though the terrorists were eventually thwarted, the issue of Blackberry smart phone use by terrorists raises interesting questions. How can authorities really limit the communications of gorilla or terrorist forces if advancing technology allows anyone to access a wealth of local and international information within an instant from a device that slips easily into a pocket?

Obviously, police and military forces work hard to ensure that sensitive information is withheld from the typical news and media outlets. But as technology becomes less expensive and more capable, the world gains more and more amateur reporters — reporters who blog, vlog, tweet and podcast whatever seems worth sharing with others in an instant. It is another task entirely to limit those people.

All things considered, no one should really be surprised that terrorists use the same technology that we use on a day-to-day basis. After all, the technology isn’t anything particular new or ground-breaking, and RIM can’t be faulted for the way its devices are used. Perhaps the global community needs to get its collective head out of the sand and realize that, if terrorists can get their hands on dirty bombs, automatic weapons and explosives, securing the every day technology of normal consumers shouldn’t be too difficult of a task.

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Entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 at 2:13 am under Cell phones, Opinion.

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