Islamic State this weekend claimed responsibility for a series of orchestrated terror attacks in the French capital which claimed the lives of 129 people. Gunmen – each fitted with a suicide vest – targeted six different locations in central Paris, including the Stade de France where president Francois Hollande was watching the national team play a friendly match against Germany. Terrorists also attacked restaurants, cafes and the Bataclan theatre where rock band Eagles of Death Metal were perfuming to a sell-out crowd. The hunt for those responsible for the Islamic State attack – accomplices are still believed to be on the run – led to a number of raids in Brussels. Officers are believed to have found at least one Sony Playstation 4 video game console, which one Belgian Minister believes was used to plan the terror attack. Belgian Minister of Home Affairs Jan Jambon said the Sony Playstation 4, or PS4, was used by ISIS to communicate because it is notoriously difficult for security agencies to monitor. "PlayStation 4 is even more difficult to keep track of than WhatsApp," he said. The hugely popular console was used by a 14-year-old Australian boy to reach out to militants supporting the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria and download the blueprints of a bomb, back in June. The unnamed teenager was sentenced to a two-year jail term after pleading guilty to the terrorism charges. While there is no hard evidence the ISIS terrorists used the Playstation 4 Network to plot the attacks which left some 300 people injured, security experts have warned the online system offers the perfect secure means of communication. The Playstation Network – dubbed PSN – allows video game players from across the globe to virtually meet-up or talk with one another. Players can send text messages or place calls through the Playstation network. Documents leaked by US whistleblower Edward Snowden previously revealed the NSA and CIA embed themselves in popular video games including World of Warcraft to infiltrate and track virtual terrorist meet-ups. Players can spell out messages to one another within video games which would be almost impossible to track. To keep track of players, security agencies would have to siphon the console activity – including in-game footage to check for visual messages, text conversations, communicates in private PSN parties, voice chats during gameplay. By last count, PSN boasted some 110 million users – 65 million of them active – making it a large group to track. The discovery of the Playstation console comes hours after Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans to take on 1,900 additional spies. The security agency increase comes as fears grow over a Paris-style massacre in the UK. Intelligence officers have revealed the United Kingdom has already foiled seven planned terror attacks within the last six months. Jihadists have already claimed London would be the next target for Islamic State terrorists, as well as Washington DC and Rome. French police today seized a rocket launcher in a series of raids carried out across the country in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris. Prime Minister Manuel Valls confirmed 150 anti-terror raids have taken place across France since the attacks. Under proposals in Theresa May's Investigatory Powers Bill – announced earlier this month – communications firms will be legally required to help spies hack into suspects' smartphones and computers. Domestic providers will be obliged to assist intelligence agencies when they are given warrants to carry out equipment interference.
