BJP veteran lK Advani on Thursday said that revolution ushered in by the internet and other modern communication devices have very serious implications for security, both of nations as well as individual citizens.
In his latest blog titled ‘Challenges of the Internet Revolution’, Advani referred to a book by top executives of Google, Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, which gave him this “caveat” to his earlier view that “all controls on internet etc was undesirable”. Advani said he had endorsed Wikileaks Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange’s arguments and view that greater transparency will bring about a more just, safe and free world.
“This book, I must admit, has provided for me a caveat that the revolution ushered in by the internet and other modern communication devices have very serious implications for security, both of nations as well as individual citizens,” Advani wrote.
Advani also referred to a chapter on ‘Future of Terrorism’ in the book that affected his instinctive fascination for modern communication tools like internet. “The unavoidable truth is that connectivity benefits terrorists and violent extremists too; as it spreads, so will the risks. Future terrorist activity will include physical and virtual aspects, from recruitment to implementation,” Advani quoted from the book titled ‘The Digital Age’.
Authors of the book write that technology made the 26/11 Mumbai attack much more deadly that they could have been otherwise, because gunmen relied on basic consumer technologies — Blackberrys, Google Earth and VoIP — to coordinate and conduct the attacks, communicating at a command centre in Pakistan with leaders who watched live coverage of the events on satellite television and monitored the news to provide real-time tactical direction.
The book also referred to the Navy SEAl Team Six’s attack on Abbottabad (Pakistan) hideout of Osama Bin laden, who though stayed off line but he used flash drives, hard drives and DVDs to stay informed about Al-Qaeda’s operations internationally.