Syrian government to issue law to monitor Syrians: Technical expert
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – The Damascus government always seeks to monitor Syrians through taking advantage of the communications and internet that it controls, according to a technical expert residing in Damascus.
He added that one of those means was the “Electronic Syrian Army,” whose main task was to monitor citizens’ online interactions on social media and hack into the accounts of the targeted people.
On Sunday, Deputy Communications and Technology Minister in Damascus government Ghassan Saba said that the ministry has been preparing a draft law to protect the privacy of Syrians’ data.
“The new law will include the establishment of a directorate or a center for protecting private data,” he added in a statement to the official state Syrian Arab News Agency SANA.
“The law will preserve the right of the citizen in protecting his private life, of which personal data is the most important aspect during this era,” Saba mentioned.
“The Damascus government has resorted to varied means to monitor Syrians, the latest of which was what the American company Lookout, which is specialized in electronic security, revealed,” the expert added.
Lookout revealed that the Damascus government created apps related to developments on the coronavirus outbreak and used them to gain access to users’ information and data, according to the expert.
According to the company, during March 2020, hackers affiliated with the Damascus government used “71 new harmful applications” on mobile devices running the Android system, he mentioned.
The hackers tried to attract the users through spreading news about the coronavirus pandemic, which enabled the smart applications to capture the user’s location and access to messages, photos, videos, audio, and contacts, he pointed out.