Mumbai attackers used latest IT tools: US commander

Washington, May 17 (PTI) The 26/11 Mumbai terror attack of 2008 carried out by Pakistan–based LeT was an example of how terror outfits use latest IT tools for their decisive motives, a top US commander has said, warning that "democratisation of technology" is closing the gap between the West and its enemies. "All the mission planning (for Mumbai terrorist attack) was done via Google Earth. There was no investment in technology (of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) platforms or anything like that," US Marine Corps Lt Gen George Flynn, Joint Staff's director of joint force development, said. "Now, in many ways, technology has been democratised," he said. "Years ago, billions of dollars on research and development could provide an operational advantage in technology for years, but today, because of the Internet, the same investment would only provide that advantage for days, or maybe months," he said while addressing the sixth annual 2012 Joint Warfighting Conference in Virginia Beach. During the Mumbai attack, Flynn said, terrorists used cellular phone networks as command and control and social media to track and thwart the efforts of Indian commandos. "How much technology or how much investment was made to create that terrorist capability?" asked the Pentagon commander. Flynn argued that the homeland is now part of the battle space as the pace of change is increasing as a result of which adversaries are taking advantage of change. That trend is likely to increase in the near future, he cautioned. PTI