Encrypted messaging apps helping terrorists "go dark" | Forensic Files

And tonight, ISIS is vowing more attacks, but the White House says so far there is no specific or credible threat
to the US. Former CBS News correspondent John Miller is the deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism at
the New York City Police Department. John, good evening. I think the question people want to know is could an attack
like what happened in Paris happen here? Here meaning uh the US, it certainly could. Here meaning New York. uh we
spent the last two years redeveloping, redesigning uh the field piece of our counterterrorism program to address just
this. So now um we have basically 1,500 police officers in uniform in cars with long semi-automatic rifles and heavy
vests that are on patrol all the time. I don't think any other city um in the world has a tactical capability on that
level and we've done that because we've been watching this. We watched Charlie Abdo. We watched this. We watched the
Mumbai attack and we we've reassessed it. I mean the question is are they coming here? They've been here ISIS has
been here in the month of June. Nora, I think uh we had uh well between April and the end of June, we had uh a
pressure cooker bomb plot inspired by ISIS targeting police that was interdicted through good intelligence
and undercover work. We had a second plot that involved a plan to behead somebody in New York and to use pressure
cooker bombs at the Fourth of July celebrations among the things they were talking about doing. Um and a couple of
attacks on FBI agents and police officers in the course of breaking up those plots. So it's um it's not a
wakeup call. Uh it's been happening here. I mean Paris is set to host hundreds of world leaders in two weeks.
It's a big global chime climate change summit that's there. How could attacks with this level of coordination and
lethality go virtually undetected? Nora, I think what you're seeing here is what
FBI Director Jim Comey calls going dark. And that is that in the in in kind of the the the time following the Snowden
debate about privacy and uh about uh government overreaching and all of those allegations uh a series of apps have
come out that are encrypted that have messages that self-destruct set to a timer that can hold group chats that are
completely protected from surveillance for up to 200 people. And the terrorists have found these apps and they're using
it. And Nora, what I'm talking about is you can walk in the door with a court order from a federal judge, hand it over
to the company and say, "We need to see what's inside here." Just like we did in
Mumbai, just like we did after 9/11, and they'll tell you, "We can't see what's inside. We designed it to be
uncrackable." That's a real challenge and scary. John Miller, thank you so much. Thanks.

The apparent lack of chatter before terrorists carried out a string of deadly attacks across Paris may indicate a dangerous change in the way extremist groups are communicating with each other. NYPD Deputy Director for Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller discusses that and how New York City is preparing for similar threats.

Brief Summary

John Miller discusses ISIS threats and New York's counterterrorism measures against potential attacks.

Key points

ISIS Vows More Attacks. ISIS has promised further attacks, raising concerns about security in the US.
Terrorist Threats in New York. New York has enhanced its counterterrorism measures in response to potential threats.
The Challenge of Encryption. Terrorists are using encrypted apps that make surveillance nearly impossible.

Episode highlights

Terrorist Threats in New YorkNew York has enhanced its counterterrorism measures in response to potential threats.“We have basically 1,500 police officers in uniform... on patrol all the time.”0:36Nov 15, 2015

Episode quotes

They've been here. ISIS has been here in the month of June.

Revealing ISIS's presence in the US.

1:07WatchNov 15, 2015

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