Digital Detectives

Following the terrorist attacks in Paris, French officials used metadata from a phone they found in a trashcan to gather information that made it possible to raid ISIS safe houses within a week. During these raids they were able to kill the suspected mastermind behind the operation, who was believed to be planning more attacks. Using a combination of cyber forensics and traditional police work, the French identified and successfully raided the purported hideout of the suspected ringleader. Considering our advanced technology, many are left questioning how this happened in the first place? And looking forward, can governments really prevent future acts of terrorism by building backdoors into encryption? In this episode of Digital Detectives, Sharon Nelson and John Simek discuss the digital forensics of the Paris attacks and the aftermath, including a surfacing argument about cryptic communication, the response from French, British, and American governments, and how Anonymous, the hacker group, has gotten invo