A security hole in the internet content filtering system deployed by the Syrian authorities allowed Telecomix hacker group to get in the possession of a large quantity of logs recorded by the BlueCoat devices.
Even though the US contractor Blue Coat Systems denies having any business in Syria, many voices accuse them of being the ones that supply censoring systems that allow the government to track its citizens' activity over the web.
The H Security reveals that the log files obtained by the hacker group have been made public at an Arab bloggers meeting in Tunisia, where the entire quantity of 54 gigabytes have been put to the disposal of those willing to study them further.
The records which originate from the period between July 22 and August 5, 2011, are just another result of the hacktivist campaign dubbed “Operation Syria,” led by Anonymous in and Telecomix.
The
statement that came with the files reads “We release them to allow any one who wishes to analyze them to provide a deeper insight on Syrian censorship and create more knowledge to circumvent further attacks on freedom of expression.“
So far, research made by the faction reveals that two of the words filtered by authorities are “proxy” and “Israel.”
This is not the first time we see a government track its citizens with the use of internet filters.
Cisco is accused by human rights activists of helping the Chinese authorities track down those who are against the national system. South Africa also had its share of web surveillance deployed by a firm called VAS-Tech.
More recent events show that a German piece of software called Finfisher has been deployed in similar state-funded operations in Egypt. The Gaddafi regime in Libya also made sure that the people were under close supervision by utilizing a software called Eagle, developed by Amesys from France.
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