Sony PS4 becomes a potential communications platform of choice for the terrorists. (Photo : REUTERS)
In line with the horrific Paris attacks last week, authorities suggest that PlayStation 4 was used as the main communication tool to the recent plot abomination.
Terrorist attacks in Paris have killed at least 127 people and left more than 300 injured. Authorities are now finding out just how the massacre was planned. Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for targeting these innocent people at locations termed as "soft" because of the lack of police/military presence, Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Reports claimed that at least one PS4 console was seized in Belgium, which has become the focus of investigations, in relation to the attacks. However, the report still needs verification but comments from Belgian home affairs minister Jan Jambon just days before the attacks also put the PS4 in focus.
The authorities have been able to monitor standard communication channels (land lines, cell phones, email, Internet browsing) easily for years, but the IP-based voice communication offered on the PS4 is much more difficult to listen in on, as is any peer-to-peer systems used.
Jan Jambon said communications on the games console are almost impossible to monitor, making them an ideal way to plot atrocities, according to Forbes.
There are a few options in using PS4 as a communication tool. It can work from sending messages through the PlayStation Network (PSN) online gaming service and voice-chatting to even communicating through a specific game.
Documents leaked by National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden in 2013 revealed that the NSA and CIA actually embedded themselves in online games like "World of Warcraft" and "Second Life," fearing that terrorist or criminal networks could use the virtual worlds to communicate secretly.
Terrorists will always find some way of communicating with each other off the radar of the authorities, and typically using services that free and open societies enjoy. As for the case of the recent Paris attack, Sony PS4 becomes a potential communications platform of choice for the terrorists.
