Bin Laden aides were using cell phones, officials tell NBC 5 phones were seized

[kpete]

Source: MSNBC

Bin Laden aides were using cell phones, officials tell NBC
5 phones were seized; such communication would be big flaw in al-Qaida security

The assault team seized five cell phones from individuals, dead and alive, in the compound, the officials said. None of the cell phones belonged to bin Laden, they said, and he did not use cell phones. The phones were in addition to 10 hard drives, five computers and more than 100 thumb drives.

.........

The NSA intercepted cell phone calls by the couriers and family members for months, the officials, as part of the 24/7 surveillance of the compound. Along with the overhead imagery, the intelligence derived from the cell phones permitted the US to learn the "patterns of life" at the compound, meaning who came and went and who had responsibility for security.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the courier who used the nom de guerre Abu Ahmad al Kuwaiti, whose real name has not been made public, and others in the compound used cell phones to communicate.

"They didn’t use land lines or the Internet, but they did use something else, cell phones," said the official.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42881728/ns/world_news-death_of_bin_laden/t/bin-laden-aides-were-using-cell-phones-officials-tell-nbc/

[Richardo]

1. I wonder if the ISI was on speed dial

Just a thought.

[formercia]

2. What a trove

A 2000 pound Bomb would have done the job but destroyed all of the valuable Intel. The terrorist networks are in big trouble now.

[Kolesar]

4. The terrorist know what we know

But that means that they are going to have to keep their heads down, delay operations, create new identities, abandon some bank accounts. sweet

[leveymg]

3. The Flt. 77 "Second Team" was using cell phones tethered to computers.

It's a way of creating a limited local area network without going through an ISP provider to get internet access. NSA had to be aware of this because the FBI interviewed airport hotel witnesses who provided that detail after the 9/11 Second Team got away on a flight to London. See, http://journals.democraticunderground.com/leveymg/545

[FLPanhandle]

5. Maybe he forgot to turn off the "track my location" option on his smartphone

Key lesson for terrorists.