On a global scale, terrorism has become a major problem due to its frequency and diversity of attacks against other people. Almost every month, whether it is a car bombing in a country in the middle-east, or a public shooting occurring on domestic soil, there is without a doubt a public violence against others, stemming from both personal and political issues. The ways terrorism is enacted is also extremely diverse, as advances in electronics have changed the way that people can harm others. One of the more frightening aspects about terrorism is that, currently, more and more regular civilians are attacking others, which has been the case in Australia, as Australian authorities have reprimanded a teenager for plotting an attack.

According to the article Britain’s youngest terror mastermind jailed for life for Anzac Day Plot, written by Bryony Jones and Erin McLaughlin, after making plans with another person by using social media, a teenager and the other person plotted to behead an Australian police officer during Australia’s Anzac Day, a national holiday celebrated in Australia in April where Australian citizens gather to watch a parade honoring the country’s soldiers who have fallen in action. However, the article reported that the plan “was foiled when police investigating other threats made by the boy decrypted messages on his phone.”

For coming up with the plan and developing the actual strategy to carry out the horrific crime, the child, who is only 14 years of age, was sentenced to life in prison for his contributions to the plot. The child’s violent plan has left his home country in shock, as, according to Tony Mole, England’s Detective Chief Superintendent of England’s North West Counter Terrorism Unit, the crime is extremely shocking as the mastermind behind it is no other than a young child.

“I think it shows that the ideology, if you’re open to it, it takes no prisoners … there are certain people who fall into the seductive propaganda of some of the ISIL stuff that’s pumped out on social media. He’s been caught up in that, he’s explored it and he’s escalated into an attack plan, and a credible one, which is an extremely dangerous thing to do,” stated Tony Mole in the article.

The plot, which had jihadist inspirations, was, according to the article, was supposed to be carried out by the minor’s co-conspirator, Sevdet Besim, from Melbourne, who, when conspiring with the minor, sent messages using an encrypted app, in order to fool authorities. However, their attempts were unfruitful, as, before the plot could be carried out, the minor during school threatened to behead his own teachers. While in police custody in England, he gained interest from counterterrorism unit, who, in turn, looked and solved the codes on his smartphone, revealing the plot to authorities.

Reportedly, the minor is more angry and convincing than he appeared to be. The article reported that, although his parents, who are divorced, acknowledged that he has, in the past and currently in the present, has suffered from behavioral problems, they were not aware that he had been radicalized. Furthermore, the article discussed that “the British-born teenager had managed to convince 18-year-old Besim that he was much older and had a history of radicalism, testing the Australian’s religious knowledge and determination to carry out an attack.”

By using a controversial app called Telegram, which is used by ISIS and other terrorist groups to send encoded messages, in order to make details about the attack. As they were caught, and it became known that the pair used the app to message each other encrypted codes, the inventor of the app has apologized publicly.