Shin Bet Chief on Internet Dangers

They say when you have a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail. I suppose when you're an internal security service, everything begins to look like it's helping your enemies.

Israeli Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin told a conference on homeland security that Google Earth, the Internet, and smartphone apps have given terrorists access to intelligence they didn't have before. He said:

"The terrorist threat in the future has become more complex," Diskin said. "The world has turned into a 'global village' and everything is available to everyone. The world is smaller and broader and technology can cross continents."

Don't you just hate it when that happens?

The Internet has made it possible for a lot more openness: this blog once had some fun with Google Earth that might not sit well with Shin Bet, but that I would consider liberating, not threatening. On the whole, I think technology has opened things up, because it empowers everyone, not just the terrorists. Arabs can read the Israeli media. Arabs and Israelis quarrel all the time on forums, but at least they're interacting. Technology is opening up the world, and that's for the best. They can have my Google Earth when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Oh, yes: those dangerous IPhone apps Diskin mentioned: are they available for Android?