The newly appointed head of spy outfit GCHQ has said computer companies like Facebook and Twitter are not doing enough to help security services catch criminals and terrorists.
Robert Hannigan went a little further than that and accused technology outfits of being “command and control networks for terrorists and criminals”.
The Islamic State, for example, used the web as a channel to promote itself, frighten people and radicalise new recruits.
Hannigan said: “But increasingly their services not only host the material of violent extremism or child exploitation, but are the routes for the facilitation of crime and terrorism.”
He also criticised the security of communications saying that encryption methods which were once the domain of nation states are now commonplace. For example, Apple and Google include encryption in their mobile operating systems as a way of protecting people’s security and privacy.
He wants the tech companies to provide more support.
