The Mumbai attack carried out by Pakistan–based LeT was an example of how terror outfits use latest IT tools for their decisive motives, a top US commander has said, warning that “democratisation of technology” is closing the gap between the West and its enemies.
“All the mission planning (for Mumbai terrorist attack) was done via Google Earth. There was no investment in technology of (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) platforms or anything like that,” US Marine Corps Lt. Gen. George Flynn, Joint Staff’s director of joint force development, said.
“Now, in many ways, technology has been democratised,” he said.
“Years ago, billions of dollars on research and development could provide an operational advantage in technology for years, but today, because of the Internet, the same investment would only provide that advantage for days, or maybe months,” he said while addressing the sixth annual 2012 Joint Warfighting Conference in Virginia Beach.
During the Mumbai attack, Lt. Gen. Flynn said, terrorists used cell phone networks as command and control and social media to track the efforts of Indian commandos.
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Cyber security net ready: NSA
New Delhi, May 16: With India having experienced 8,000 cyber attacks during the 2010 Commmonwealth Games, national security adviser Shivshankar Menon on Wednesday said the government is “in final stages” of developing capabilities for protecting against such possibilities.
“The Information and Communication Techn-ology (ICT) revolution has brought power to non-state actors and small groups such as terrorists. It has given small groups and individuals the means to threaten and act against much larger groups,” Mr Menon said. — PTI