What do GPS, SIM cards, VOIP and BlackBerrys have in common?
They were part of the sophisticated world of Media 2.0 technology that arrived in the Indian sub-continent along with sub-machine guns, grenades and high explosives, in the hands of determined, highly-trained terrorist attackers.
Heavily armed terrorists apparently arrived by sea to pin point locations in India by using Global Positioning System equipment, according to Indian investigators and police.
They were equipped with BlackBerrys, CDs holding high-resolution satellite images like those used for Google Earth maps, and multiple cell phones with switchable SIM cards that would be hard to track.
They communicated with each other and their leaders by satellite telephone.
While TV channels broadcast live coverage of the terrorist attack, TVs were turned on in the hotel rooms occupied by the gunmen, to see what kind of coverage they were getting and to take evasive action if necessary, according to eyewitnesses.
The flood of information about the attacks - on TV, cell phones, the Internet - seized the attention of a terrified city, but it also was exploited by the assailants to direct their fire and cover their origins.
"The terrorists would not have been able to carry out these attacks had it not been for technology. They were not sailors, but they were able to use GPS navigation tools and detailed maps to sail from Karachi (in Pakistan) to Mumbai," said G. Parthasarathy, an internal security expert at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi.
Citizen trapped in the Mumbai hotels and railway station sent images and text to the media and friends. Folks at home used the new technology to communicate with relatives trapped in hotels and used the Internet to try and fight back.
During the attacks, an organization calling itself Deccan Mujaheddin asserted responsibility in an email to news outlets that was traced to a computer server in Moscow according to India sources.
The message, it was later discovered, originated in Lahore, Pakistan.
Investigators have said the email was produced using Urdu-language voice-recognition software to "anonymatize" regional spellings and accents so police would be unable to identify their ethnic or geographic origins.
When the gunmen called back to their leaders, their satellite telephones used voice-over-Internet-protocol(VOIP) phone numbers, making calls harder to trace. Once on the scene, they snatched cell phones from hostages and used those to stay in contact.
The lone captured gunman, Azam Amir Kasab, 21, told police he was shown video footage of the targets and the Google Earth images before the attacks, said Deven Bharti, a deputy commissioner in the Mumbai police.
Intelligence agencies around the world have complained that Google Earth images contained too much detail about military sites and other defense installations.
Terrorists know how to use this new technology to further their aims.
Unfortunately, India's security forces do not make the same, instantaneous use of Media 2.0 applications. "The only people out of the loop seem to be the Indian security forces. They are a generation behind in understanding the technology that the terrorists used," said Bharti
Government agencies need to be nimble and agile in monitoring the new media and must come up with innovative ways to communicate in the age of Media 2.0 or they will leave themselves vulnerable to such attacks.
The terrorists learn from these situations. Do we?
They were part of the sophisticated world of Media 2.0 technology that arrived in the Indian sub-continent along with sub-machine guns, grenades and high explosives, in the hands of determined, highly-trained terrorist attackers.
Heavily armed terrorists apparently arrived by sea to pin point locations in India by using Global Positioning System equipment, according to Indian investigators and police.
They were equipped with BlackBerrys, CDs holding high-resolution satellite images like those used for Google Earth maps, and multiple cell phones with switchable SIM cards that would be hard to track.
They communicated with each other and their leaders by satellite telephone.
While TV channels broadcast live coverage of the terrorist attack, TVs were turned on in the hotel rooms occupied by the gunmen, to see what kind of coverage they were getting and to take evasive action if necessary, according to eyewitnesses.
The flood of information about the attacks - on TV, cell phones, the Internet - seized the attention of a terrified city, but it also was exploited by the assailants to direct their fire and cover their origins.
"The terrorists would not have been able to carry out these attacks had it not been for technology. They were not sailors, but they were able to use GPS navigation tools and detailed maps to sail from Karachi (in Pakistan) to Mumbai," said G. Parthasarathy, an internal security expert at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi.
Citizen trapped in the Mumbai hotels and railway station sent images and text to the media and friends. Folks at home used the new technology to communicate with relatives trapped in hotels and used the Internet to try and fight back.
During the attacks, an organization calling itself Deccan Mujaheddin asserted responsibility in an email to news outlets that was traced to a computer server in Moscow according to India sources.
The message, it was later discovered, originated in Lahore, Pakistan.
Investigators have said the email was produced using Urdu-language voice-recognition software to "anonymatize" regional spellings and accents so police would be unable to identify their ethnic or geographic origins.
When the gunmen called back to their leaders, their satellite telephones used voice-over-Internet-protocol(VOIP) phone numbers, making calls harder to trace. Once on the scene, they snatched cell phones from hostages and used those to stay in contact.
The lone captured gunman, Azam Amir Kasab, 21, told police he was shown video footage of the targets and the Google Earth images before the attacks, said Deven Bharti, a deputy commissioner in the Mumbai police.
Intelligence agencies around the world have complained that Google Earth images contained too much detail about military sites and other defense installations.
Terrorists know how to use this new technology to further their aims.
Unfortunately, India's security forces do not make the same, instantaneous use of Media 2.0 applications. "The only people out of the loop seem to be the Indian security forces. They are a generation behind in understanding the technology that the terrorists used," said Bharti
Government agencies need to be nimble and agile in monitoring the new media and must come up with innovative ways to communicate in the age of Media 2.0 or they will leave themselves vulnerable to such attacks.
The terrorists learn from these situations. Do we?
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