The PlayStation plot

THE ability to send highly-encrypted messages is a feature of the PlayStation 4 games console.

Through the system’s ‘PlayStation Network’, used by 110million people worldwide, players can send private messages or speak directly through microphones.

Players can also use features within games to divulge attack plans without leaving a trace.

For example, a player could write a temporary, virtual message in a wall in games such as the best-selling Call of Duty, Forbes magazine reported. Police reportedly found one of the consoles in a raid on a Brussels flat linked to the Paris attacks.

It has prompted fears the jihadis may have used the Sony device to communicate through secret channels which are difficult for authorities to monitor.

Only last Friday, Belgian politician Jan Jambon warned: ‘PlayStation 4 is even more difficult to keep track of than WhatsApp.’

The PlayStation 4 is the world’s most popular gaming console, and has sold 25million units since its launch in 2013.