Hijackers' e-mails were unencrypted

[R. A. Hettinga]

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20011001/3496196s.htm

Page 1A


Hijackers' e-mails sifted for clues Computer messages were sent uncoded

By Kevin Johnson
USA TODAY


WASHINGTON -- Federal authorities believe that some of the 19 hijackers
involved in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were using computers in
all-night Kinko's stores and cybercafes in South Florida to coordinate
their activities in the weeks before the assaults.

Investigators have amassed what they described as a ''substantial'' amount
of e-mail traffic among the hijackers. Some of the messages were exchanged
in a mix of English and Arabic.

None of the communications, authorities said Sunday, involved the use of
encryption or other code to disguise the contents of the messages.

At least two laptop computers seized in the United States were being
examined closely by investigators. They hope to determine whether the
machines contained information that could help identify associates of the
hijackers in this country or provide leads about future terrorist attacks,
a senior law enforcement official said.

The disclosure appeared to be further evidence that the hijackers felt free
to conduct their business in the open without much fear they would be
discovered.

Late last month, law enforcement officials said they believed that the
hijackers or their associates did extensive scouting missions on various
airline routes before settling on flights originating in Boston, Newark,
N.J., and Washington.

Investigators said they believe that the hijackers selected the four
flights they commandeered Sept. 11 because passenger loads generally were
light and the fuel tanks on the jets, all on transcontinental routes, were
full.

Official interest in the hijackers' methods of communication comes as the
largest criminal investigation in U.S. history continues to widen. The
attacks left nearly 6,000 people dead or missing.

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,A)(B Copyright 2001 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.



-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'



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