Using Technology to Catch the Brussels Terrorists

All right, well, there is a manhunt, no doubt, on for that third, uh, guy on the right. Uh, he did not blow himself up, we're told. The other two did. They were wearing a black glove to hide the fact that they were pressing down a detonator that released and blew up as soon as they let go of the pressure on that device. They're dead. The guy on the right is not. Robert Siciliano on how we find him, uh, That's where his cyber expertise will probably come in handy. We still don't know what happened to those who were behind the, the train attacks today that killed 20. Uh, we suspect that they blew themselves up as well, but it's hard to say. If you're looking at all this, Robert, and, and thinking what?

Well, certainly, uh, there is a, uh, digital trail. Uh, there's no question about it that they were communicating via multiple devices, whether it was mobile phones, desktops, laptops, uh, whether encrypted or not. Uh, they they essentially, you know, plan their attacks using the same communications that you and I use. And if there is government agencies, law enforcement tapped into surveying that chatter, then they generally, you know, work towards thwarting these attacks, or they use that data reactively to catch the perpetrators.

All right, so what are the—

what do we have to do now?

We pieced together why some blew themselves up, others, maybe one that we know of, did not. What do you glean from just that?

Well, you know, it's hard to say what, you know, a, uh, someone who's bent on, uh, killing others and killing themselves is thinking, what their motivations are. Uh, it's, it's very difficult to determine, you know, the, the, the psychology or psychosis, uh, of people like this, you know. We as Americans can't fathom that people act in this way. But there are cultures that unfortunately do so.

Well, the one thing I'm not sure of is that obviously ISIS has responded. Not only were they behind these attacks, but others that might be coming as well in response to attacks against it. They obviously chose major transportation hubs today. They chose Brussels as the point to do it, the capital of the European Union. What, what message do you think they were trying to send? And why wasn't or couldn't there have been a better means to track them? I'm sure there was chatter to this effect, certainly after the, you know, the capture last week.

So, you know, there are millions, if not billions, of devices out there. And, you know, to actually be able to pinpoint who's doing what when and having enough resources—say, law enforcement, government officials—tapping into every device, surveying it, recording each and every conversation, and to then be able to determine, you know, when something treacherous is going to take place, obviously, is a somewhat of an impossibility. I don't think we'll ever be able to completely nail down, you know, who's up to no good and when they're going to execute their crimes. You know, this isn't a technology issue. Fundamentally, this is a boots on the ground issue. You know, infiltrating criminal organizations, you know, getting moles on the inside of these terrorist groups so that ultimately you can, you know, man to man determine what the next terrorist attack is going to be. By either being a part of it, you know, as an undercover, or, you know, overhearing it and, you know, reporting it to the authorities. All right.

Thank you, my friend, very, very much. It's just crazy. Before I get to Connelly, I want to let you know that police now in Belgium are saying that there are 3 people they're searching for. 2 are fugitives from the scenes of these terror incidents. I don't know whether just at the airport, just at the train station, maybe a mix of both. Possibly one of the bombers at the airport, though, could be among them. And, uh, that the bomber itself might have been from the subway. We're still looking to confirm all of this, but again, fast-moving developments that not everyone who planned this attack today died.