ACM TechNews

For Syria’s Rebel Movement, Skype Is a Useful and Increasingly Dangerous Tool

By New York Times
December 3, 2012
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Syrian rebels responded to the recent nationwide Internet shutdown by relying on satellite technology to coordinate within the country and to communicate with foreign activists.

The rebels have spent months smuggling communications equipment, such as mobile handsets and portable satellite phones, into the country, and they used Skype to organize and to talk to outside news organizations and activists. Just as the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt became known as Twitter Revolutions, the events in Syria are becoming the Skype Rebellion.

The smuggled equipment has enabled the rebels to continue to communicate almost entirely via Skype with few interruptions, despite the Internet blackout. "How the government used its weapons against the revolution, that is how activists use Skype," says rebel Albaraa Abdul Rahman.

The Internet shutdown is just the latest strategy in the escalating technology war being waged in Arab Spring countries. However, technology experts warn that the use of the Internet by Syrian rebels could leave them vulnerable to government surveillance. The Assad government has developed tools to install malware on computers that enables officials to monitor a Skype user's activity.

In addition, using satellite phones with Skype makes it easier to track a user's location, notes the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Eva Galperin.

From The New York Times
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Abstracts Copyright © 2012 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA

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