The Mumbai terrorists used an array of commercial technologies -- from Blackberries to GPS navigators to anonymous e-mail accounts -- to pull off their heinous attacks.
For years, terrorists and insurgents around the world have used off-the-shelf hardware and software to stay ahead of bigger, better-funded authorities. In 2007, former U.S. Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid complained that, with their Radio Shack stockpile of communications gear, "this enemy is better networked than we are." The strikes that killed at least 174 appears to be another example of how wired today's "global guerrillas" can be.
As they approached Mumbai by boat, the terrorists "steered the vessel using GPS equipment," according to the Daily Mail. A satellite phone was later found aboard.
Once the coordinated attacks began, the terrorists were on their cell phones constantly. They used BlackBerries "to monitor international reaction to the atrocities, and to check on the police response via the internet," the Courier Mail reports.
Source: Danger Room (be sure to read the whole thing)
The police cut local cable, satellite and Television broadcasts during the attacks, but were still unable to stop the terrorists from accessing the resources of the Internet...and they were foolish to think that they could.
I wonder how many free or freely available Wi-Fi networks were available to the terrorists to use (aside from their satphones) that the police could not even shut down even if they wanted to?
There is one thing that could have lessened the carnage. A citizenry self-armed and willing to defend themselves.
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