British security officials have revealed that Westminster Bridge terror
attacker Khalid Masood made series of encrypted messages on popular
messaging platform, Whatsapp, before carrying out the attack, and have
urged the social media company to give them back-end access to encrypted
messages in order to avoid future attacks.
Masood drove
a rented SUV into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before smashing it
into Parliament's gates and rushing onto the grounds, where he stabbed a
policeman to death before he was shot dead, an attack which lasted just
82 seconds.
U.K Home Secretary Amber Rudd on Sunday
urged those behind WhatsApp -- and similar apps to make their back end
encryption accessible to security agencies, a plea that resembled that
made by the FBI following the San Bernardino terror attack in December
2015 where they asked Apple to help unlock one of the terrorist's
iPhones. But such a move will be very unlikely by Whatsapp or other
social media platforms, as they believe in customer confidentiality and
privacy.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said;
"We
need to make sure that organizations like WhatsApp — and there are
plenty of others like that — don't provide a secret place for terrorists
to communicate with each other," she said.
"This terrorist sent a WhatsApp message and it can't be accessed."
According
to Rudd, if there is no change in the system, terrorists would be able
to communicate with each other without fear of being overheard even in
cases where a legal warrant has been obtained.
Deputy
Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu revealed British security officials
may never be possible to fully determine Masood's motives.
"That understanding may have died with him," Basu said Saturday night as police appealed for people who knew Masood or saw him to contact investigators.
"Even
if he acted alone in the preparation, we need to establish with
absolute clarity why he did these unspeakable acts, to bring reassurance
to Londoners."
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