Paris attackers plotted over encrypted apps WhatsApp and Telegram, officials say

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(Image credit: YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images)

Officials have evidence that the terrorists behind the Paris attacks may have used encrypted messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram to communicate, CNN reports. The apps, which CNN reports both have "end-to-end encryption that protects the privacy of their users and are difficult to decrypt," were found on devices recovered near the scenes of the Nov. 13 attacks that left 131 dead. Officials say they can tell the apps were used for quite some time before the attacks, but that the encrypted messages themselves may never be uncovered.

The revelation comes just one day after FBI Director James Comey said at a conference at New York Police Department headquarters that "the use of encryption is at the center of terrorist trade craft."

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