Belgian Minister: ISIS Uses PS4 to Talk

“The thing that keeps me awake at night is the guy behind his computer, looking for messages from [the Islamic State group, or ISIS] and other hate preachers”, Jan Jambon, Belgium’s federal home affairs minister, said Friday, according to Quartz.

The surveillance community has long asserted that video games and consoles can be a safe haven for terrorists.

Bloomberg reported that Belgium has become a breeding ground for terrorists, and that there are strong links between Belgium and the attacks in Paris.

Not only the attacks show that the terrorists had advanced arms and munitions, but also high level logistical support they received. The game consoles would have allowed the attack’s perpetrators to communicate more securely – as in, away from intelligence officials’ ears or eyes – compared to traditional channels like email or smartphone apps.

After the almost simultaneous sieges in Paris, which left at least 129 dead and 352 injured, authorities in nearby Brussels conducted a number of searches for those responsible and discovered evidence that included at least one PS4 console. When Edward Snowden leaked the NSA’s documents, an initiative for close monitoring of in-game discussions was also brought to light, as it was believed that terrorists used games such was World of Warcraft to communicate.

According to Mike Thompson, the information security director at Linus Security Solutions, the reason PlayStation is hard to crack is that it uses the proprietary operating system, and has its personal protocols and communication network, the PlayStation Network.

And ISIS fighters could have even been communicating without speaking or writing a word. A player in Call Of Duty could shoot at a wall and write a disappearing message in bullets to another player.

But, the reports that PlayStation 4s may have been used are speculation at this stage, and there has been no confirmation of this by authorities investigating the terrorist attacks.

In another media report, the tech website Geek says the Paris terrorists are “suspected” of using PlayStation 4s to communicate.