The Threat of ISIS and Encryption Software in New York City

NYPD officers convene in the Times Square subway stop as security in New York City increases following the coordinated assault on Paris which ISIS claimed responsibility for

Former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly, now vice chairman of corporate-investigations firm K2 Intelligence, talks about New York City's state of preparedness and the systems put in place after 9/11.

When asked about encryption software, which European officials believe was instrumental in allowing the Paris attackers to coordinate their actions in secret, Kelly said:

"I’m assuming that people in Washington, the FBI and other places are attempting to defeat this encryption. But it is a major challenge. It changes the way investigations are done."

In response to ISIS' approach of attacking "soft targets" like cafes and restaurants rather than iconic or military targets, Kelly offered his thoughts:

"What they’re trying to do is commit these atrocities to actually lure us into a major land war in the Middle East. And in many ways, we’re kinda going along with their playbook."

Kelly also responded to a comment made by Donald Trump on MSNBC this morning, in which he criticized the de Blasio administration for disbanding an NYPD surveillance unit and pulling back on anti-terrorism security:

"No, I have no indication that that’s happening. I think what he’s talking about is the demographics unit that we put in place to monitor who is coming in, basically, from outside the country...That unit was eliminated. Now I would hope that the work that they were doing is being done in other units in the department, but I assume that’s what he’s talking about."

After, Manoush Zomorodi, host of WNYC’s Note to Self, talks about the need for law enforcement to stay ahead of the technological curve of encryption.