MI5 chief warned of apps risk

ISOBEL DICKINSON MI5 bosses warned that social media sites such as WhatsApp – used by Khalid Masood – were a threat two years ago.

Monster Masood used the popular messaging site two minutes before his evil rampage.

It is thought he could have been using it to contact other extremists he was working with.

Director General Andrew Parker hit out at WhatsApp in 2015 for using secure end-to-end encryption, which keeps messages hidden. He called for high-end encryption, used by sites such as Snapchat and Facebook Messenger, to be banned – a move which PM Theresa May later backed down on.

The sites use it to keep texts and multimedia safe from prying eyes, but it makes it harder for intelligence services to access potentially extremist content.

Mr Parker said it was “creating a situation where law enforcement agencies and security agencies can no longer obtain under proper legal warrant the contents of communications between people they have reason to believe are terrorists”.

He said: “They are using secure apps and internet communication to try to broadcast their message and incite terrorism.

“If we are to find and stop the people who mean us harm, MI5 and others need to be able to navigate the internet to find terrorist communication.”