Posted on 10/31/2005 9:14:25 PM PST by CarrotAndStick
NEW DELHI: Increased use of satellite phones by terrorists is posing a serious problem for security agencies working at intercepting their communication traffic.
As a result, the agencies have of late missed vital information that could otherwise have been used to prevent major terror attacks across the country because they do not have the sophisticated interceptor equipment required to monitor satphone traffic.
The matter came to the fore at a high-level meeting of top security and intelligence officials in the home ministry to discuss the loopholes in the agencies’ functioning in the wake of Saturday’s serial blasts in Delhi.
"Discussions were held over scores of issue, including the use of satellite phones by terrorists," said a senior home ministry official.
Senior officials from security agencies, including BSF and CRPF, are learnt to have mentioned this as a key factor when asked as to why it has become so difficult to trace the terrorists’ gameplan despite the fact that the agencies have their own dedicated intelligence wing.
Security agencies subsequently told the senior ministry officials that almost all the major outfits, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, have started using satellite phones in a big way.
The BSF alone has seized over a dozen Thurayas, a hand-held satellite telephone, from the terrorists following different encounters in J&K during 2004-05. They also pointed out that the use of Thuraya was, however, not limited to J&K.
Even the Delhi Police had seized one Thuraya satellite phone following an encounter with three terrorists in the Capital on March 5 this year.
"Since the security agencies in J&K do not have satellite phone interceptors, it has been very difficult to trace de-code terrorists’ communication. It has been noticed that the militant outfits are generally not using wireless sets for communicating with their cadres before any major operation," said a senior BSF official.
Interrogation reports of arrested militants revealed that the terrorists have been procuring these Thuraya satellite phones by using forged documents either from the UAE or Pakistan. "Terrorists operating from both sides of the border have been using Thuraya for the last over three years.
Being marketed by the UAE-based company, Thuraya phones have already reached almost all district commanders of the LeT in J&K and the Pakistan occupied Kashmir," said the official.
Asked about functioning of Thuraya satellite phone, a security expert Ravi Prasad said: "These phones are used anywhere as they are directly linked with satellite. The use is easier as these phones are also GSM-compatible.
Though it can also be intercepted, you need very sophisticated equipment to do so." The security agencies involved in monitoring terrorist activities do not right now have such equipment.
Security agencies believed that the use of satellite phones has substantially upgraded the terrorists’ communication network in the country.
They said the Thuraya had become a mainstay of the militants’ communication network as it is the only mobile satellite service in the global market capable of providing voice, messaging, SMSes and e-mail from a mobile.
"Since the size of this phone is as small as that of any other normal GSM (global system for mobile) phone, the terrorists are finding it too convenient to use it anywhere in the country without being detected by the security personnel," said the officials.
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Apply pressure on their service provider. Names, addresses, "wire" taps.
Let me add to that, anytime a terrorist is apprehended, follow the trail. Get phone records while you are at it.
I am not talking about this from strictly a US courts approach either. This is international.
No need for that in the case of the US. We've been listening to these calls all along, ever since we convinced Bin Laden that they were untraceable and un-interceptable.
In fact his son referred to his father having "no longer traceable Satellite Phones" back in 2003. When predator drones showed up Bin Ladin learned that the phones were indeed traceable and tap-able.
But India may not (yet) have this capability. With the increased cooperation between India and the US, you can bet this will change.
Agreed, but they probably speak in code as well, which is the more important issue finding in real time what is going on.
...and depending on the method of delivery, there might not be any noise at all, other than birds tweeting followed by a boom heard by the living.
I can't resist the old '80's computer room riff on the NSA's ubiquitous recruiting posters:
"NSA is now funding research not only in cryptography, but in all areas of advanced mathematics. If you'd like a circular describing these new research opportunities, just pick up your phone, call your mother, and ask for one."
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