• Cell phones have many uses, illegal as well as legal.cell phone at night image by Stephen VanHorn from Fotolia.com
  
  World governments and media have studied terrorist use of cell phones for years, most famously in a 2008 paper posted online by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS). Just how widespread such illicit cell phone use actually is, is debated. However, evidence that cell phones have been used as bombs and may be used in other ways to benefit terrorist activity, is well documented.
  
  

Bombs

• Most cell phones contain lithium ion cobalt batteries. While cell phone companies make phone casings with consumer protection in mind, removing the protective casing and certain safety circuits from around a battery, and then setting the phone to "vibrate," can make a battery explosive, according to Law Enforcement Technology Magazine. Terrorists attacked public transportation in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005, using cellular phones as improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
  
  If police spot a cell phone bomb, they can disarm it by jamming phone signals from a safe distance. However, police don't have regular access to jamming equipment and bomb makers have ways around it. For example, while jamming equipment stops phone calls, it does not interfere with a phone's other functions. Therefore, a bomber might set a phone's alarm to detonate a bomb.
  
  

Coordination

• Security Management reports that cell phones may be used to strategize. Terrorists can locate their enemies' homes and workplaces with GPS devices, then send up-to-the-minute text messages reporting police or soldier whereabouts to an entire group. It is also possible to upload maps and information through Twitter or text message. Software to disguise voices and disposable cell phones make this type of planning convenient. It also makes it difficult (although not impossible) for police to track.
  
  

Propaganda

• A terrorist with a cell phone camera can stay relatively anonymous while taping an attack or viral propaganda video. Video games that indoctrinate children have also been developed on the Internet and spread with the help of cell phone technology.
  
  

Funding

• "M-payments," a method of transferring money worldwide, may be used to fund terrorist groups. You do not need a bank account, ID, or credit card to make an m-payment, so it is difficult for law enforcement professionals to know where money is being sent, or by whom. The website Spacewar.com reported that only a cell phone is needed to transfer money to any ATM machine, where it can then be withdrawn by a disposable "value card."
  
  

Skepticism

• While bomb threats are taken seriously by authorities, the website Wired.com quoted an official who wasn't overly concerned about terrorists using Twitter to plan or spread propaganda. Other news outlets, such as WebProNews, have questioned how legitimate the concern of terrorists using Twitter really is.
  
  

Government Response

• World governments are continuously updating laws to keep up with technology. Legislation was introduced this year in the U.S., requiring people who buy prepaid, disposable cell phones to show ID.