Report: US Part of Anti-Syrian Regime Cyber War
Again, US interference in Syrian affairs is unveiled. After money and logistical aids, US is providing Syrian rebels with software technologies.
The famous "Time World" magazine reported Thursday details of how the Americans turned some of the armed men into cyber warriors against the Syrian regime.
"Local dissident leaders picked the rebel [Abu Ghassan] to go abroad for even-more-sophisticated training in computer encryption, circumvention of government firewalls and secure use of mobile phones-courtesy of the US State Department," the "Time World" stated.
According to the magazine, "the training has helped give the rebels the upper hand in one front in the battle against Syria's President."
In the process, the Obama Administration has tiptoed across an invisible line. Officially, the US claims it abides by the UN process led by Kofi Annan and does not condone arms sales to opposition groups as long as there are UN observers in Syria. Nevertheless, US officials have revealed to "Time", "the Obama Administration has been providing media-technology training and support to Syrian dissidents by way of small nonprofits like the Institute for War & Peace Reporting and Freedom House."
The program actually began four years ago with a different target: China. In 2008, Michael Horowitz, went to his friend Representative Frank Wolf, a Virginia Republican, and suggested setting aside funds to help Falun Gong, a religious group that Beijing has labeled a dangerous cult.
With the new developments in the Middle East region, the US Congress soon forked over an additional $57 million to State to spend in the next three years. "The money is split among three areas: education and training; anonymization, which masks users' identities, usually through encryption; and circumvention technology," the magazine explained.
It further unveiled that "the funding comes from a warren of cubicles in the southeast corner of the seventh floor of the State Department's Harry S. Truman building in Washington."
"There, a team of six people-two women and four men-doles out Internet Freedom Grants to nonprofit groups and software developers that help dissidents all over the world. Most of the team's day is spent sifting through hundreds of grant proposals and reading expert opinions about which are most promising," The "Time World" added.
In all, more than 10,000 bloggers, journalists and activists have been trained in 10 languages through 50 programs, and hundreds of thousands more have accessed materials and guides published by the groups.
One group of American-backed instructors working in the Middle East, for example, trains Syrian rebels in a tactic used by drug dealers and showcased on the hit show The Wire.
In order to have truly secure phone conversations, activists are advised to use a SIM card registered to a dead person and place it in a cheap burner phone that can be easily discarded.
Another circumvention technology, called Tor, that allows dissidents to get around Syria's Internet censors is favored by narcotraffickers as well as by the hacker group Anonymous. Also being deployed against al-Assad: private e-mail- and messaging-board platforms similar to the one developed by RiseUp.net, a group of antigovernment protesters who'd been repeatedly targeted by the FBI.
Stealthier work-around are in the pipeline. The New America Foundation has a grant to develop what it describes as the "Internet in a suitcase," which could provide access to the Web when local authorities have shut it down. One app downloads a panic button that dissidents can hit if they're pulled over by the police or other security forces, instantly wiping all contacts and incriminating evidence from their smart phones. Another app presents a false screen when the wrong security code is entered. And still another blurs the faces of dissidents.
"During his absence from Homs this winter, Abu Ghassan took a five-day Communication Security 101 course, which began with the most basic tool: a cell phone," the "Times" reported.
In parallel, it stated that "activists learn to remove the batteries when not using the phones, carry multiple phones and cycle through them as quickly as possible."
"Trainees are also taught how to encrypt their Internet chats, set up a secure connection and hide their files on a computer," it added.
Despite all these sophisticated assistance, US instructors admit difficulties of their mission for "the Syrian government is engaged in cyber war too."
Source: Time World, Edited by moqawama.org
