Hackers Use Old Lure on Web to Help Syrian Government

The Syrian conflict has been marked by a very active, if only sporadically visible, cyberbattle that has engulfed all sides, one that is less dramatic than the barrel bombs, snipers and chemical weapons -- but perhaps just as effective. The United States had deeply penetrated the web and phone systems in Syria a year before the Arab Spring uprisings spread throughout the country. And once it began, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s digital warriors have been out in force, looking for any advantage that could keep him in power.

This information has come from a new study by the intelligence-gathering division of FireEye, a computer security firm, which has delved into the hidden corners of the Syrian conflict -- one in which even a low-tech fighting force has figured out a way to use cyberespionage to its advantage. FireEye researchers found a collection of chats and documents while researching malware hidden in PDF documents, which are commonly used to share letters, books or other images. That quickly took them to the servers where the stolen data was stored. But the FireEye report, makes it clear that such “network exploitation” is now a routine part of even the most low-tech if brutal civil wars, and available to those operating on a shoestring budget.