Two top intelligence officials last week warned that tech-savvy terrorists are using the Web to recruit for, plan, facilitate, and even accelerate their criminal acts. Their comments set the stage for what's likely to become a heated national debate over wiretapping the Internet.
James Clapper, the new U.S. director of national intelligence, and Robert Mueller, the director of the FBI, gave a sobering account of the growing use of the Web by violence-prone adversaries. Their statements take on added significance in light of the Obama administration's push for legislation, being drafted now, that would force communications service providers to establish the capability to intercept and unscramble communications traveling over their networks. Clapper and Mueller spoke at the Bipartisan Policy Center's State of Domestic Intelligence Reform conference.

In his first public presentation since taking over as director of national intelligence in August, Clapper pointed to the "ever-growing popular use of online social media and blogs by violent extremist groups" and said that virtual communities have become as important as physical communities in fostering the radicalization of young people.

The link for this article located at Information Week is no longer available.