Intel chief: ISIS using encrypted apps to order attacks by ‘lone wolves’

The head of Germany's BFV domestic intelligence agency, Hans-Georg Maassen, said Wednesday that leaders of the Islamic State organization in Syria and Iraq are coordinating terrorist attacks in Europe using encrypted messaging platforms like Telegram and social networks where "perpetrators themselves are safe and not recognized." He said at a news conference in Berlin that "lone wolves" are being recruited via private channels, which mostly cannot be located, monitored or intercepted by intelligence agencies. He later expressed concern over sleeper cells in Germany, the difficulty faced by intelligence and security agencies in thwarting lone wolf attacks, and the role played by social networks in Islamic radicalization. The BFV announced this week that a growing number of Salafists who identify with various terrorist organizations are now living in Germany and are under surveillance.